The 63rd edition of the Itzulia Basque Country will be held from 1st – 6th of April between Irun and Eibar, over six stages covering 833.6 kilometres. Our Basque rider, Pello Bilbao, leads the lineup with the support of Yukiya Arashiro, Nikias Arndt, Santiago Buitrago, Johan Price Pejtersen, Jasha Sütterlin and Edoardo Zambanini.
The race starts in Irun with a 10km ITT. From there, the riders will take on stage 2, from Irun to Kanbo, with the fast men battling it out in an uphill sprint to the line.
The climbing gets more serious on stage 3. The 190.9km route from Ezpeleta to Altsasu has six classified climbs and over 3,000 metres of climbing between the three category 2 and category 3 ascents, starting with the 7.8km ascent to Otxindo from kilometre zero.
Stage 4 looks very much like the previous day but with fewer climbs and a less severe ascent before the flat finish, where it could be another day for the fast men.
The fifth stage from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Amorebieta-Etxano is 175.9km long. On this stage, riders hit the category 1 climb at Urkiola. The 5.5km climb averages 9.4% and precedes two laps of a 26.8km circuit that contains two climbs – one cat 3 and a smaller uncategorised climb that riders hit just before the finish in the cycling-mad town of Amorebieta.
The final stage, and also the queen stage, is a typical short stage around Eibar with seven classified climbs, including three 1st category, three 2nd category and a final 3rd category close to the finish, bringing the total climbing elevation to 3,472m.
With virtually no restbite between each ascent and everything to play for, the final stage of Itzulia Basque Country is renowned for its unpredictability. With no fewer than 22 classified climbs over the race and time bonuses of 10, 6, and 4 seconds on offer at each finish, there will be plenty of opportunities for an aggressive, wide-open race in the 2024 Itzulia Basque Country.
Pello Bilbao is excited to be racing at home: “Itzulia is for me one of my most important races in the calendar. This is a race that I like to prepare in detail. This year maybe even more because the strongest riders will be here. To race at home in the known territory on my roads against these big names is such a big motivation. I want to use this advantage to try to do my best race, to try to surprise them, to try to be in the fight for the stages. I can say that this year is not a typical Itzulia. I think it is a light version of it. It is not such a technical parcour, and it is like trying to make a race in a progression that is going to be decided in the last stage. Because the previous stages are always in small groups at the finish line but not very selective parcour. So everything is going to be decided on the first day of TT and the last day on a typical stage of Eibar. I am ready to go and I am motivated for this new Itzulia.”
Sports director Neil Stephens: “On Monday we start Itzulia with the Time Trial in Irun. It is a good way to platform into the Itzulia with the Time Trial. It is a race we have been working hard not only with the riders but also with our technical partners, Merida and all the other bike components sponsors. The team is doing a great job in preparations for ITT. We have high hopes for a race leader, Pello Bilbao on Monday and the whole of Itzulia. From Irun on we transition to 2 less harder days, even though there are no easy stages at Basque Country, but 2nd and 3rd stages are not as demanding. We will try for a stage result, obviously for a stage win with Nikias and Santiago, and then we will transition to hard stages with lots of climbs. We are going to hope for a stage result along the way and try to protect the GC riders, Pello and Santiago as co-leader. And we have high hopes for Santiago also in the last stage. The other boys are for support. Every day, we are gonna try to keep our options open to go for an individual result.”
