PREVIEW | Itzulia Basque Country 2025 stage 1 - Victory for UAE or Visma in the opening time-trial?
Cycling
From the 7th to the 12th of April, the peloton will take on Itzulia Basque Country; a race that is well known for it's course designed for climbers and puncheurs in a region full of cycling history. We preview stage 1.
The race starts off with a 16-kilometer time-trial in Vitoria-Gasteiz, one that is not flat and as usual will already create some early differences between the overall classification contenders.
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There is no technical aspect to this time-trial, it's very simple and in the first half, although they are not too difficult, there are a couple of small ascents. Still, it is mostly rolling terrain where the specialists can still make the difference.
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The first stage of the race will be important for the overall classification as it will dictate the order in which the climbers will go into the hilly stages. With this in mind, the likes of João Almeida and Mattias Skjelmose will be trying to get the most out of their effort, whilst riders like Brandon McNulty and Romain Grégoire could be interesting as GC outsiders. The rest will be trying to limit losses, but the fight for the stage win will be very open as we're missing the big specialists.
The time-trial is mostly flat, but a few uphill sections may make a few seconds of difference between a few riders which can prove to be vital in the finale. It will be a sunny day with a slight northeastern breeze, which should affect the day's outcome a lot. It will be a day for the riders to put on some unusually big chainrings.
Prediction Itzulia Basque Country 2025 stage 1:
*** Brandon McNulty, Victor Campenaerts
** João Almeida, Mattias Skjelmose, Romain Grégoire
* Finn Fisher-Black, Ethan Hayter, Max Schachmann, Felix Grossschartner, Nelson Oliveira, Ben Healy
Pick: Victor Campenaerts
Original: Rúben Silva
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🔝2025EKO ITZULIA BASQUE COUNTRYREN KARTEL OFIZIALA 🔝
— Itzulia Basque Country (@ehitzulia) March 25, 2025
Gaur aurkeztu dugu 2025eko Itzulia Basque Countryren kartel ofiziala.
Itzuliaren 64. edizioko kartelaren egilea David de las Heras da, @david_delasheras
🔥 CARTEL OFICIAL DE LA ITZULIA BASQUE COUNTRY 2025 🔥
Hoy hemos… pic.twitter.com/gBcoLRkjzo
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- That uber bet was huge more than made up for the losses by 10x. Still winning.
Front24209-04-2025 - Yawn! There were no ther top class sprinters there so he better have won! Let me know when he beats Jasper or Merlier or Milan!frieders309-04-2025
- Yes, I get that but it wasn’t exactly a good comparison if you ask me, circumstances and competition were very different. Also crashing whilst staying up front is pretty different from crashing and being left behind.Mistermaumau08-04-2025
- Pidcock was riding at a hard enough pace until the sector where Pogacar made up something like 20 seconds in something like... 20 seconds. Pidcock was quite a bit ahead, and suddenly he wasn't. At that point, clearly he would get caught, so might as well get caught sooner and work together. That's just good cycling. (I think the point is, plenty of people win even after they've come down in a crash - Van der Poel crashed at the worlds and won, anyway, for example).RidesHills08-04-2025
- Great sprint, Ineos set him up at exactly the right time, they protected the corners through the turns, and he did the job he was supposed to do. Nice to see him win again.RidesHills08-04-2025
- When Vingo, Rogla, and Wout were all at the height of their powers, a sight to behold.mobk08-04-2025
- To quote the article: riders from Arkéa - B&B Hotels and a few others seized the moment to launch an attack, increasing the pace as Pogacar was briefly off the bike. Not coolmij08-04-2025
- I don’t think it was a matter of easing up. I think it was a matter of attacking. And MVDP said his team would respect similar situations. Perhaps not on the penultimate climb, but I believe they would. To accelerate is a jerk move.mij08-04-2025
- His basic attitude always has been (and we know age often reinforces inherent values), if I’m going down I’m going to try taking you with me.Mistermaumau08-04-2025
- I know it’s tradition and nice but to make the discussion more interesting, if an Arkea rider had driven up to tell Alpecin or UAE to ease off for Mozzato or Vauquelin having a P, would they have been as gentlemanly?Mistermaumau08-04-2025