Primož Roglić will defend his last year’s title in the 61st Tour of the Basque Country multi-day bicycle race
From April 4 to 9, 2022, one of the highlights of the week-long World Tour cycling races, the Tour of the Basque Country, will take place on Spanish roads. Last year, everything was decided on the final stage, where Slovenian Primož Roglic succeeded, finishing second and winning the general classification, while his equally famous compatriot Tadej Pogacar finished in the top 3. This time Roglich will defend his title, while Pogachar preferred to concentrate on the classic April one-day races. But even without him, Roglich will have plenty of competition – Sergio Iguita, winner of the recent Vuelta de Catalunya, Adam Yates, Alexander Vlasov, Julian Alaphilippe and many other strong riders are determined to fight for first place.
Last season, Brandon McNulty had a pretty sensational lead before the last stage, but he didn’t make it through the toughest final stage and dropped out of the top 10. In the end, Roglich was 52 seconds ahead of Team Jumbo-Visma teammate Jonas Vingegor in the overall standings, while Pogachar of UAE Team Emirates was a minute and 7 seconds behind.
Roglich, the Olympic champion at the Tokyo Games in the split start race, is also considered the No. 1 favorite this time around. This season he has already won Paris-Nice and does not intend to stop there. And he has a strong team, with Wingegor as vice-captain. Although BORA-Hansgrohe also look very strong, as the squad for the Tour of the Basque Country has three classy miners – Vlasov, Emanuel Buchman and, of course, Iguita. The Colombian made a furore at the Vuelta de Catalunya, but there was no individual time trial, and the Tour of the Basque Country will start with a short but still split time. For sure there are ambitions for David Gaudet, Adam Yates and Alaphilippe.
As for the key points of the upcoming race, everything will surely be decided in the final two stages of the mountain. The fifth stage is expected to end with an uphill (6.7 kilometers with an average gradient of 5.6 percent), a downhill, and then a short final climb. The final sixth stage with seven category (!) climbs will end with an uphill finish of 4.5 km with a gradient of 8.8 with a very short downhill.
April 4-9
April 4th, Monday
Stage 1. Hondarribia – Hondarribia (7.5 km). Individual time trial
April 5, Tuesday
Stage 2. Leica – Viana (207.9 km), Plains
April 6, Wednesday
Stage 3. Laudio – Amurrio (181.7 km). Hilly
April 7, Thursday.
Stage 4. Vitoria-Gasteis – Zamudio (185.6 km). Hilly
April 8, Friday
Stage 5. Zamudio – Mallabia (163.8 km). Alpine
April 9, Saturday
Stage 6. Eibar – Arrate (136.7 km). Mountain
