PREVIEW | Itzulia Basque Country 2025 stage 3 - Ultra-steep climbs on the menu to test GC riders
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 3.
The third day of the race will be the introduction to what Itzulia offers the most. The stage between Zarautz and Beasain will feature plenty ascents and the ones that come later in the day are extremely steep. Not necessarily a day just for the climbers, plenty riders can have a chance in such an explosive finale.
3100 meters of climbming on the menu, however most of the climbs in the first two thirds of the race will be there to set fatigue and won't see attacks. Even the penultimate of the day, the toughest - to Gainza - is unlikely to see attacks because of the long flat stretch that follows. Nevertheless, the ascent is 2.3 kilometers long at 11% and it gets substantially steeper at the summit, so a lot of riders will go to the limit here (the climb ends with 37 kilometers to go).
The attacks should come later in the day instead, on the ascent to Lazkaomendi which is 1.4 kilometers long at 9.4%. Not as difficult but the summit comes with only 6 kilometers to the finish, and going solo over the top means an almost certain win as the descent will quickly lead the riders into town. The final 3 kilometers are still mostly flat, and so there is room for more attacks before the finish for those looking to avoid a sprint.
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Prediction Itzulia Basque Country 2025 stage 3:
*** Thibau Nys, Marc Hirschi, Santiago Buitrago
** Andrea Bagioli, Roger Adrià, Romain Grégoire, Axel Zingle, Ben Healy
* Brandon McNulty, Axel Laurance, Mattias Skjelmose, Pello Bilbao, Alex Aranburu, Florian Lipowitz, Aleksandr Vlasov, Maxim van Gils, Oscar Onley, Max Schachmann, Clément Champoussin, Julian Alaphilippe
Pick: Thibau Nys
How: Reduced group sprint finish
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
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- 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
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- 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