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Itzulia Basque Country 2025 preview: Route, favourites, how to watch and start list
Itzulia Basque Country – aka, the Tour of the Basque Country or the Vuelta al Pais Vasco – is a six-day stage race taking place from 7th to 12th April in the Basque region of northern Spain.
The 2024 race was scarred by a mass pile-up on the fourth stage that forced Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Primož Roglič to abandon. In their place, Spanish youngsters Juan Ayuso and Carlos Rodríguez rose to the GC challenge to claim the top two spots, with Ayuso winning the coveted victory beret.
This year’s edition, which begins in Vitoria-Gasteiz and finishes in Eibar, has decided to omit any uphill finishes. Instead, the week will feature a time-trial, one flat stage and four punchy profiles. With João Almeida, Enric Mas and Basque favourite Pello Bilbao on the startlist, the 2025 race will offer a chance for a team leader to gain an early edge in their Giro preparations.
Itzulia Basque Country 2025 key information
- Dates: Monday 7th April-Saturday 12th April 2025
- Start: Vitoria-Gasteiz
- Finish: Eibar
- Stages: Six
- Television coverage: TNT Sports, Discovery+
- Most wins: Alberto Contador and Jose Antonio González, four
- 2024 winner: Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates)
Itzulia Basque Country 2025 route
The 2025 route is typical for Itzulia Basque Country. It opens up with a short time-trial, before heading to the lush green hills around the region’s northern coastline.
Given the Basque Country is packed with short steep climbs, those rampas inhumanas will feature during the middle part of the race, notably on Stages 3 and 4 in the region’s north-western corner. The parcours sticks in this corner of the Basque Country until its conclusion in Eibar on Stage 6.
With no uphill finishes or mountains over 1,000m in altitude, bonus seconds may prove pivotal in the fight for the yellow jersey.
Itzulia Basque Country 2025 stage-by-stage preview
Stage 1: Monday 7th April, Vitoria-Gasteiz – Vitoria-Gasteiz, 16.5km (ITT)
We kick things off with a time-trial. It’s certainly longer than your average prologue, and it’s got a moderate ramp around halfway through.
Stage 2: Tuesday 8th April, Pamplona-Iruña – Lodosa, 199.8km
Starting from the bull-chasing city of Pamplona, Stage 2 offers the only sprint-appropriate day of racing. Sprints in Itzulia Basque Country can sometimes throw up unpredictable results, so look out for the underdog fastmen.
Stage 3: Wednesday 9th April, Zarautz – Beasain, 156.3km
This is the kind of profile you may think of when it comes to the Basque Country. It’s undulating with no dizzying tests, accented by some leg-boggling 20% ramps later on.
Stage 4: Thursday 10th April, Beasain – Markina-Xemein, 169.6km
This is a tamer version of Stage 3, but with a more prolonged double-digit incline in Izua.
Stage 5: Friday 11th April, Orduñ – Gernika-Lumo, 172.4km
Breakaway? Sprint? GC day? Who knows on this kind of profile.
Stage 6: Saturday 12th April, Eibar – Eibar, 153.6km
This beast of a stage his several climbs to drop anyone with tired legs before an uphill drag to the line will decide the GC.
Itzulia Basque Country 2025 favourites
The start list for the 2025 Itzulia Basque Country won’t feature either of the Slovenian GC titans, nor a certain Dane and Belgian who have tasted a fair amount of Grand Tour success in the past. This decision, however, allows the second layer of GC riders a rare chance to claim a WorldTour level title.
That said, in the absence of Slovenians, UAE Team Emirates and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have both brought ferocious teams. João Almeida will lead the charge for the former, with Brandon McNulty, Marc Soler and Isaac Del Toro for company. As for Red Bull, the German outfit have fielded 2022 winner Dani Martínez, Sasha Vlasov and Florian Lipowitz. It’s likely the road will decide who leads that team.
Looking deeper into the list of starters, the Spaniards stand out. Pello Bilbao has gone well here in the past – unsurprisingly, given it’s his home race. Enric Mas also looked in decent form at the Volta a Catalunya, so he can’t be counted out. Not Spanish, but a rider who has always gone well in Spain, Matthias Skjelmose will be hoping to improve on his third place finish from last year.
Cyclist’s ratings
- ★★★★★: João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates XRG)
- ★★★★: Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Matthias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Enric Mas (Movistar), Daniel Martínez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)
- ★★★: Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Oscar Onley (Picnic-PostNL)
- ★★: Pablo Castrillo (Movistar), Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates XRG), Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Harold Tejada (XDS-Astana)
- ★: Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates XRG), Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlUla)
Itzulia Basque Country 2025: How to watch
The Tour of the Basque Country will be available to watch in the UK and Ireland on TNT Sports. Throughout Europe, the racing will be broadcast on Eurosport and Discovery+. The race will be broadcast across TNT Sports 1, 2 and 3 throughout the week.
If the race isn’t being broadcast in your country or you are travelling abroad, a VPN will allow you to hide your device’s location to access content that is normally geo-blocked. One such VPN provider is ExpressVPN, which is well reviewed, helps users to find free to watch cycling, and costs start from around £5 per month.
- Read more: How to watch cycling for less in the UK
- Read more: Which countries can watch cycling for free in 2025?
TV times
TV and streaming schedule below UK time and subject to change by broadcasters.
Stage 1: Monday 7th April
- Discovery+: 14:30-17:00
- TNT Sports 1: 14:30-17:00
Stage 2: Tuesday 8th April
- Discovery+: 14:30-17:00
- TNT Sports 1: 14:30-16:45
Stage 3: Wednesday 9th April
- Discovery+: 14:30-17:00
- TNT Sports 1: 14:30-16:45
Stage 4: Thursday 10th April
- Discovery+: 14:30-17:00
- TNT Sports 2: 14:30-16:45
Stage 5: Friday 11th April
- Discovery+: 14:30-17:00
- TNT Sports 1: 14:30-16:45
Stage 6: Saturday 12th April
- Discovery+: 14:30-17:00
- TNT Sports 3: 15:15-16:45
Itzulia Basque Country 2025 start list
Data powered by FirstCycling.com
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