Tour of the Basque Country

Tour of the Basque Country

Race details
Date	Early-April
Region	Spanish Basque Country
English name	Tour of the Basque Country
Local name(s)	Vuelta al País Vasco (Spanish) Euskal Herriko itzulia (Basque)
Discipline	Road
Competition	UCI World Tour
Type	Stage race
History
First edition	1924 (1924)
Editions	56 (as of 2016)
First winner	Francis Pélissier (FRA)
Most wins	José Antonio González (ESP)  Alberto Contador (ESP) (4 wins)
Most recent	Alberto Contador (ESP)

The Tour of the Basque Country (Spanish: Vuelta Ciclista al País Vasco, Basque: Euskal Herriko Itzulia) is an annual cycling stage race held in the Spanish Basque Country in April. It is one of 24 races that make up the UCI World Ranking calendar.

History

The original Tour of the Basque Country had a troubled history, with 8 editions contested between 1924 and 1935, before the civil war seemingly wiped it out for good. In spite of its short tenure, it is mentioned and described in Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises.

In 1952, the Eibar Cycling Club (erstwhile backers of Spain's first national stage race, the pre-Vuelta a España Gran Premio República) launched a new 3-day event called Gran Premio de la Bicicleta Eibarresa to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Former French national champion Louis Caput took the inaugural edition.

In 1969, organizers opted to promote the race (by then 5 stages long) as IX Vuelta al País Vasco - XVIII Bicicleta Eibarresa, effectively merging the Bicicleta Eibarresa into a reborn Tour of the Basque Country. However, the palmares of the Bicicleta Eibarresa (featuring Vuelta a España winners Jesús Loroño and Rolf Wolfshohl) is not recognized as part of the Tour of the Basque Country's history. The Eibar Cycling Club would relinquish control of the competition following the 1973 edition, while retaining the rights to the Bicicleta Eibarresa name, which has sporadically been reactivated to help promote other, lower ranked events.

The first winner of the Tour of the Basque Country was Francis Pélissier from France, while the first winner of the 'modern' Tour (1969) was Jacques Anquetil, also of France. The most successful riders in the history of the Tour are Spain's José Antonio González, who won the race four times in 1972, 1975, 1977 and 1978, and Spain's Alberto Contador, who also won the race four times in 2008, 2009, 2014 and 2016.

The most recent edition (2016) was won by Spain's Alberto Contador, his fourth win in the race.

The winner traditionally dons a basque beret on the podium.

Because the Basque Country is a mountainous area, there are few flat stages, and thus the event favors those who are strong climbers. Most ascents in the Tour are not particularly high by professional cycling standards, but are often quite steep.

Winners

		Rider	Team
1924	FRA !	Pelissier, FrancisFrancis Pélissier (FRA)
1925	BEL !	Verdyck, AugusteAuguste Verdyck (BEL)
1926	LUX !	Frantz, NicolasNicolas Frantz (LUX)
1927	FRA !	Fontan, VictorVictor Fontan (FRA)
1928	BEL !	De Waele, MauriceMaurice De Waele (BEL)
1929	BEL !	De Waele, MauriceMaurice De Waele (BEL)
1930	ESP !	Canardo, MarianoMariano Cañardo (ESP)
1931– 1934	~ !No race
1935	ITA !	Bartali, GinoGino Bartali (ITA)
1936– 1968	~ !No race
1969	FRA !	Anquetil, JacquesJacques Anquetil (FRA)
1970	ESP !	Santamarina, Luis PedroLuis Pedro Santamarina (ESP)
1971	ESP !	Ocana, LuisLuis Ocaña (ESP)
1972	ESP !	Gonzalez, Jose AntonioJosé Antonio González (ESP)
1973	ESP !	Ocana, LuisLuis Ocaña (ESP)
1974	ESP !	Lasa, Miguel MaríaMiguel María Lasa (ESP)
1975	ESP !	Gonzalez, Jose AntonioJosé Antonio González (ESP)
1976	ITA !	Baronchelli, GianbattistaGianbattista Baronchelli (ITA)
1977	ESP !	Gonzalez, Jose AntonioJosé Antonio González (ESP)
1978	ESP !	Gonzalez, Jose AntonioJosé Antonio González (ESP)
1979	ITA !	Battaglin, GiovanniGiovanni Battaglin (ITA)
1980	ESP !	Fernandez, AlbertoAlberto Fernández (ESP)
1981	ITA !	Contini, SilvanoSilvano Contini (ITA)
1982	ESP !	Laguia, Jose LuisJosé Luis Laguía (ESP)
1983	ESP !	Gorospe, JuliánJulián Gorospe (ESP)
1984	IRL !	Kelly, SeanSean Kelly (IRL)
1985	ESP !	Ruiz Cabestany, PelloPello Ruiz Cabestany (ESP)
1986	IRL !	Kelly, SeanSean Kelly (IRL)
1987	IRL !	Kelly, SeanSean Kelly (IRL)
1988	NED !	Breukink, ErikErik Breukink (NED)
1989	IRL !	Roche, StephenStephen Roche (IRL)
1990	ESP !	Gorospe, JuliánJulián Gorospe (ESP)
1991	ITA !	Chiappucci, ClaudioClaudio Chiappucci (ITA)
1992	SUI !	Rominger, TonyTony Rominger (SUI)
1993	SUI !	Rominger, TonyTony Rominger (SUI)
1994	SUI !	Rominger, TonyTony Rominger (SUI)	Mapei–CLAS
1995	SUI !	Zulle, AlexAlex Zülle (SUI)	ONCE
1996	ITA !	Casagrande, FrancescoFrancesco Casagrande (ITA)	Saeco–AS Juvenes San Marino
1997	SUI !	Zulle, AlexAlex Zülle (SUI)	ONCE
1998	ESP !	Cuesta, InigoÍñigo Cuesta (ESP)	ONCE
1999	FRA !	Jalabert, LaurentLaurent Jalabert (FRA)	ONCE–Deutsche Bank
2000	GER !	Kloden, AndreasAndreas Klöden (GER)	Team Telekom
2001	LTU !	Rumsas, RaimondasRaimondas Rumšas (LTU)	Fassa Bortolo
2002	ESP !	Osa, AitorAitor Osa (ESP)	iBanesto.com
2003	ESP !	Mayo, IbanIban Mayo (ESP)	Euskaltel–Euskadi
2004	RUS !	Menchov, DenisDenis Menchov (RUS)	Illes Balears–Banesto
2005	ITA !	Di Luca, DaniloDanilo Di Luca (ITA)	Liquigas–Bianchi
2006	ESP !	Gomez Merchante, Jose AngelJosé Ángel Gómez Marchante (ESP)	Saunier Duval–Prodir
2007	ESP !	Cobo, Juan JoseJuan José Cobo (ESP)	Saunier Duval–Prodir
2008	ESP !	Contador, AlbertoAlberto Contador (ESP)	Astana
2009	ESP !	Contador, AlbertoAlberto Contador (ESP)	Astana
2010	USA !	Horner, ChrisChris Horner (USA)	Team RadioShack
2011	GER !	Klöden, AndreasAndreas Klöden (GER)	Team RadioShack
2012	ESP !	Sánchez, SamuelSamuel Sánchez (ESP)	Euskaltel–Euskadi
2013	COL !	Quintana, NairoNairo Quintana (COL)	Movistar Team
2014	ESP !	Contador, AlbertoAlberto Contador (ESP)	Tinkoff–Saxo
2015	ESP !	Rodríguez, JoaquimJoaquim Rodríguez (ESP)	Team Katusha
2016	ESP !	Contador, AlbertoAlberto Contador (ESP)	Tinkoff

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vuelta al País Vasco.

• Official website (Spanish)
• Tour of the Basque Country Palmares at Cycling Archives