Final Startlist Itzulia Basque Country 2026 | Riders: Paul Seixas, Isaac del Toro, Juan Ayuso, Primoz Roglic and more
Cycling
From the 6th to the 11th of April, the peloton will travel to the Basque Country, one of cycling's holy regions, for Itzulia Basque Country. The six-day stage-race is always marked by the steep climbs, the narrow roads, unstable weather and passionate fans, which are never missing in one of the spring's highlights. We take a look at its startlist.
The race was first held back in 1924 where Francis Pélissier took the first win. In 1935 Gino Bartali won an isolated edition and then for over 30 years the Itzulia was absent from the calendar. It wasn't until 1969 where there was a rebirth, and one with big shockwaves as none other than Jacques Anquetil won this edition.
Over the years many legends such as Luis Ocaña, Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche, Tony Rominger, Alex Zulle and Laurent Jalabert have all won the Basque race. The amount of Spanish wins in this century hasn't dminished even in the previous years, with the following being victorious: Aitor Osa, Iban Mayo, José Ángel Gómez Marchante, Juan José Cobo, Alberto Contador (four times), Sámuel Sanchez, Joaquím Rodríguez, Alejandro Valverde, Ion Izagirre and most recently in 2024 Juan Ayuso.
We've also had Nairo Quintana take a breakthrough win in 2013 early in his career, Primoz Roglic (2018 and 2021), Daniel Martínez, in 2023 Jonas Vingegaard and in 2025 João Almeida who dominated the race throughout its mountain stages.
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Download the startlist in A4. The race is going to have a very interesting battle for the overall win including the young super talent Paul Seixas; and the equally impressive slightly older talent Isaac del Toro who is getting the freedom to lead UAE in another top race. Juan Ayuso is also returning to racing after his Paris-Nice injury, and would be a clear win candidate if he has his best level. Primoz Roglic is also an interesting addition to the race, on profiles that suit him.
Antonio Tiberi, Mattias Skjelmose, Brandon McNulty; besides local stars such as Mikel Landa, Pello Bilbao, Ion Izagirre and Alex Aranburu are also set to take the spotlight. Lots of riders also use this race as preparation for the Ardennes classics such as Julian Alaphilippe, Quinn Simmons, Christian Scaroni and Jarno Widar.
Final Startlist Itzulia Basque Country 2026
| Soudal - Quick-Step | |
| 1 | Landa, Mikel |
| 2 | Bastiaens, Ayco |
| 3 | Cras, Steff |
| 4 | Vansevenant, Mauri |
| 5 | Svrček, Martin |
| 6 | Wilder, Ilan Van |
| 7 | Hayter, Ethan |
| XDS Astana Team | |
| 11 | Champoussin, Clément |
| 12 | Fortunato, Lorenzo |
| 13 | Higuita, Sergio |
| 14 | Tejada, Harold |
| 15 | Conci, Nicola |
| 16 | Scaroni, Christian |
| 17 | Velasco, Simone |
| Groupama - FDJ United | |
| 21 | Martin-Guyonnet, Guillaume |
| 22 | Braz Afonso, Clément |
| 23 | Decomble, Maxime |
| 24 | Geniets, Kévin |
| 25 | Pacher, Quentin |
| 26 | Paleni, Enzo |
| 27 | Rochas, Rémy |
| UAE Team Emirates XRG | |
| 31 | Del Toro, Isaac |
| 32 | McNulty, Brandon |
| 33 | Arrieta, Igor |
| 34 | Grossschartner, Felix |
| 35 | Novak, Domen |
| 36 | Pericas, Adrià |
| 37 | Soler, Marc |
| Lidl - Trek | |
| 41 | Ayuso, Juan |
| 42 | Mollema, Bauke |
| 43 | Bagioli, Andrea |
| 44 | Bernard, Julien |
| 45 | Verona, Carlos |
| 46 | Skjelmose, Mattias |
| 47 | Simmons, Quinn |
| Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | |
| 51 | Roglič, Primož |
| 52 | Etxeberria, Haimar |
| 53 | Lipowitz, Florian |
| 54 | Fisher-Black, Finn |
| 55 | Moscon, Gianni |
| 56 | Tuckwell, Luke |
| 57 | Herzog, Emil |
| Decathlon CMA CGM Team | |
| 61 | Seixas, Paul |
| 62 | Riccitello, Matthew |
| 63 | Bisiaux, Léo |
| 64 | Labrosse, Jordan |
| 65 | Prodhomme, Nicolas |
| 66 | Staune-Mittet, Johannes |
| 67 | Paret-Peintre, Aurélien |
| Burgos Burpellet BH | |
| 71 | Okamika, Ander |
| 72 | Quartucci, Lorenzo |
| 73 | Faura, José Luis |
| 74 | Fernández, Sinuhé |
| 75 | García, Carlos |
| 76 | Diaz, José Manuel |
| 77 | Fajardo, Adrián |
| Equipo Kern Pharma | |
| 81 | Elosegui, Iñigo |
| 82 | Cobo, Iván |
| 83 | Gimeno, Nil |
| 84 | Iribar, Unai |
| 85 | Ramos, Unai |
| 86 | Gutiérrez, Jorge |
| 87 | Ruiz, Ibon |
| Movistar Team | |
| 91 | Uijtdebroeks, Cian |
| 92 | Arcas, Jorge |
| 93 | Lopez, Juanpe |
| 94 | García, Raúl |
| 95 | Tesfatsion, Natnael |
| 96 | Adrià, Roger |
| 97 | Romo, Javier |
| Team Picnic PostNL | |
| 101 | Broek, Frank van den |
| 102 | Dinham, Matthew |
| 103 | Faure-Prost, Alexy |
| 104 | Knox, James |
| 105 | Koerdt, Bjoern |
| 106 | Martinez, Juan Guillermo |
| 107 | Gaffuri, Mattia |
| Bahrain Victorious | |
| 111 | Bilbao, Pello |
| 112 | Ermakov, Roman |
| 113 | Kepplinger, Rainer |
| 114 | Bruttomesso, Alberto |
| 115 | Stockwell, Oliver |
| 116 | Tiberi, Antonio |
| 117 | Valter, Attila |
| Alpecin - Premier Tech | |
| 121 | Houle, Hugo |
| 122 | Debruyne, Ramses |
| 123 | Belmans, Lennert |
| 124 | Verstrynge, Emiel |
| 125 | Dockx, Aaron |
| 126 | Glivar, Gal |
| 127 | Vergallito, Luca |
| Tudor Pro Cycling Team | |
| 131 | Alaphilippe, Julian |
| 132 | Weiss, Fabian |
| 133 | Brenner, Marco |
| 134 | Eriksson, Jacob |
| 135 | Voisard, Yannis |
| 136 | Wilksch, Hannes |
| 137 | Wirtgen, Luc |
| Cofidis | |
| 141 | Izagirre, Ion |
| 142 | Aranburu, Alex |
| 143 | Buchmann, Emanuel |
| 144 | Meehan, Jamie |
| 145 | Joalland, Yaël |
| 146 | Maas, Jan |
| 147 | Ourselin, Paul |
| Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | |
| 151 | Barceló, Fernando |
| 152 | Castellon, Jan |
| 153 | Fernández CJR, Samuel |
| 154 | Molenaar, Alex |
| 155 | Arriolabengoa, Julen |
| 156 | Bou, Joan |
| 157 | Lopez, Joseba |
| Euskaltel - Euskadi | |
| 161 | Ugarte, Gari |
| 162 | Bizkarra, Mikel |
| 163 | Juaristi, Txomin |
| 164 | Lastra, Jonathan |
| 165 | Alustiza, Nicolás |
| 166 | Martín, Gotzon |
| 167 | Mintegi, Iker |
| EF Education - EasyPost | |
| 171 | Healy, Ben |
| 172 | Beloki, Markel |
| 173 | Shaw, James |
| 174 | Nerurkar, Lukas |
| 175 | Lee, Jardi van der |
| 176 | Baudin, Alex |
| 177 | Leonard, Michael |
| INEOS Grenadiers | |
| 181 | August, AJ |
| 182 | Hamilton, Lucas |
| 183 | Vauquelin, Kévin |
| 184 | Langellotti, Victor |
| 185 | Laurance, Axel |
| 186 | Øxenberg, Peter |
| 187 | Rivera, Brandon |
| Team Visma - Lease a Bike | |
| 191 | Armirail, Bruno |
| 192 | Graat, Tijmen |
| 193 | Huising, Menno |
| 194 | Tulett, Ben |
| 195 | Kruijswijk, Steven |
| 196 | Rex, Tim |
| 197 | Fiorelli, Filippo |
| Uno-X Mobility | |
| 201 | Cort, Magnus |
| 202 | Johannessen, Tobias |
| 203 | Johannessen, Anders |
| 204 | Kron, Andreas |
| 205 | Kulset, Johannes |
| 206 | Tjøtta, Martin |
| 207 | Træen, Torstein |
| Lotto - Intermarché | |
| 211 | Kockelmann, Mathieu |
| 212 | Fox, Matthew |
| 213 | Ørn-Kristoff, Felix |
| 214 | Orins, Robin |
| 215 | Thompson, Reuben |
| 216 | Veistroffer, Baptiste |
| 217 | Zimmermann, Georg |

Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
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