Tour of the Basque Country
Race details | |
---|---|
Date | Early-April |
Region | Spanish Basque Country |
English name | Tour of the Basque Country |
Local name(s) |
|
Discipline | Road |
Competition | UCI World Tour |
Type | Stage race |
Web site | www |
History | |
First edition | 1924 |
Editions | 60 (as of 2021) |
First winner | Francis Pélissier (FRA) |
Most wins |
|
Most recent | Ion Izagirre (ESP) |
The Tour of the Basque Country (Officially: Itzulia Basque Country, Template:Lang-es, Template:Lang-eu) is an annual cycling stage race held in the Spanish Basque Country in April. It is one of the races that make up the UCI World Tour calendar. As the Basque Country is a mountainous area, there are few flat stages, and thus the event favors those who are strong climbers. The race is characterized by its short stages, rarely exceeding 200 km, and steep ascents. While the ascents featured in the race aren't particularly high compared to other stage races, they are among the steepest seen in professional cycling, some having sections with gradients reaching well above 20%.[1]
History
The original Tour of the Basque Country had a troubled history, with 8 editions contested between 1924 and 1935, before the civil war seemingly wiped it out for good. One of these early editions is commentated on in Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises.
In 1952, the Eibar Cycling Club (erstwhile backers of Spain's first national stage race, the pre-Vuelta a España Gran Premio República) launched a new 3-day event called Gran Premio de la Bicicleta Eibarresa to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Former French national champion Louis Caput took the inaugural edition.
In 1969, organizers opted to promote the race (by then 5 stages long) as IX Vuelta al País Vasco - XVIII Bicicleta Eibarresa, effectively merging the Bicicleta Eibarresa into a reborn Tour of the Basque Country. However, the palmares of the Bicicleta Eibarresa (featuring Vuelta a España winners Jesús Loroño and Rolf Wolfshohl) is not recognized as part of the Tour of the Basque Country's history. The Eibar Cycling Club would relinquish control of the competition following the 1973 edition, while retaining the rights to the Bicicleta Eibarresa name, which has sporadically been reactivated to help promote other, lower ranked events.
The first winner of the Tour of the Basque Country was Francis Pélissier from France, while the first winner of the 'modern' Tour (1969) was Jacques Anquetil, also of France. The most successful riders in the history of the Tour are Spain's José Antonio González, who won the race four times in 1972, 1975, 1977 and 1978, and Spain's Alberto Contador, who also won the race four times in 2008, 2009, 2014 and 2016. Since its revival in 1969, it has been held every year with the exception of during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The winner traditionally dons a basque beret on the podium.
Winners
Year | Country | Rider | Team | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1924 | France | Francis Pélissier | ||
1925 | Belgium | Auguste Verdyck | ||
1926 | Luxembourg | Nicolas Frantz | ||
1927 | France | Victor Fontan | ||
1928 | Belgium | Maurice De Waele | ||
1929 | Belgium | Maurice De Waele | ||
1930 | Spain | Mariano Cañardo | ||
1931– 1934 |
No race | |||
1935 | Italy | Gino Bartali | ||
1936– 1968 |
No race | |||
1969 | France | Jacques Anquetil | ||
1970 | Spain | Luis Pedro Santamarina | ||
1971 | Spain | Luis Ocaña | ||
1972 | Spain | José Antonio González | ||
1973 | Spain | Luis Ocaña | ||
1974 | Spain | Miguel María Lasa | ||
1975 | Spain | José Antonio González | ||
1976 | Italy | Gianbattista Baronchelli | ||
1977 | Spain | José Antonio González | ||
1978 | Spain | José Antonio González | ||
1979 | Italy | Giovanni Battaglin | ||
1980 | Spain | Alberto Fernández | ||
1981 | Italy | Silvano Contini | ||
1982 | Spain | José Luis Laguía | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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1983 | Spain | Julián Gorospe | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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1984 | Ireland | Sean Kelly | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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1985 | Spain | Pello Ruiz Cabestany | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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1986 | Ireland | Sean Kelly | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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1987 | Ireland | Sean Kelly | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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1988 | Netherlands | Erik Breukink | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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1989 | Ireland | Stephen Roche | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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1990 | Spain | Julián Gorospe | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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1991 | Italy | Claudio Chiappucci | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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1992 | Switzerland | Tony Rominger | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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1993 | Switzerland | Tony Rominger | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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1994 | Switzerland | Tony Rominger | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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1995 | Switzerland | Alex Zülle | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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1996 | Italy | Francesco Casagrande | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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1997 | Switzerland | Alex Zülle | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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1998 | Spain | Íñigo Cuesta | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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1999 | France | Laurent Jalabert | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2000 | Germany | Andreas Klöden | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2001 | Lithuania | Raimondas Rumšas | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2002 | Spain | Aitor Osa | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2003 | Spain | Iban Mayo | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2004 | Russia | Denis Menchov | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2005 | Italy | Danilo Di Luca | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2006 | Spain | José Ángel Gómez Marchante | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2007 | Spain | Juan José Cobo | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2008 | Spain | Alberto Contador | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2009 | Spain | Alberto Contador | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2010 | United States | Chris Horner | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2011 | Germany | Andreas Klöden | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2012 | Spain | Samuel Sánchez | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2013 | Colombia | Nairo Quintana | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2014 | Spain | Alberto Contador | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2015 | Spain | Joaquim Rodríguez | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2016 | Spain | Alberto Contador | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2017 | Spain | Alejandro Valverde | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2018 | Slovenia | Primož Roglič | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2019 | Spain | Ion Izagirre | You have called {{Contentious topics}} . You probably meant to call one of these templates instead:
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2020 | No race due to COVID-19 pandemic |
Multiple winners
Wins | Rider | Editions |
---|---|---|
4 | José Antonio González (ESP) | 1972, 1975, 1977, 1978 |
Alberto Contador (ESP) | 2008, 2009, 2015, 2016 | |
3 | Sean Kelly (IRL) | 1984, 1986, 1987 |
Tony Rominger (SUI) | 1992, 1993, 1994 | |
2 | Maurice Dewaele (BEL) | 1928, 1929 |
Luis Ocaña (ESP) | 1971, 1973 | |
Julián Gorospe (ESP) | 1983, 1990 | |
Alex Zülle (SUI) | 1995, 1997 | |
Andreas Klöden (GER) | 2000, 2011 |
Most stage wins
# | Rider | Stage wins |
---|---|---|
1 | Domingo Perurena (ESP) | 11 |
Seán Kelly (IRL) | 11 | |
3 | Laurent Jalabert (FRA) | 9 |
4 | Tony Rominger (SUI) | 8 |
Samuel Sánchez (ESP) | 8 | |
6 | Alberto Contador (ESP) | 7 |
7 | Miguel María Lasa (ESP) | 6 |
Joaquim Rodriguez (ESP) | 6 | |
Alejandro Valverde (ESP) | 6 | |
9 | José Antonio González Linares (ESP) | 5 |
Stefano Zanini (ITA) | 5 |
References
- ^ Middendorp, Koen. "Voorbeschouwing: Ronde van Het Baskenland 2019". Wieleflirts. Retrieved 12 April 2019.
External links
- Official website (in Spanish)
- Tour of the Basque Country palmares at Cycling Archives (archived)