Basque talent Ion Izagirre on racing in Canada, vacation and the weather

Tour de France stage winner is enjoying a breakout season in 2016

Philippe Tremblay September 18, 2016

Ion Izagirre is enjoying the best season of his career in 2016. The rider who hails from the Basques Country in Spain is a veteran of the professional peloton racing on WorldTeams since 2011 but really came into his own in 2016. Izagirre won a stage of the 2016 Tour de France, took Spain’s time trial title, won the time trial at the Tour de Suisse to finish second overall in the race, won the prologue at the Tour de Romandie beating Tom Dumoulin on his way to finishing second overall and finished eighth overall in the Olympic time trial.

Izagirre has made the North American pilgrimage to Canada for the Grand Prix Cyclistes de Québec and Montréal five times in his career. Canadian Cycling Magazine caught up with Spain’s national time trial champion ahead of the race in Montreal where he would go on to finish eighth. Missing out only on the inaugural editions of the races in 2010 and the 2014 edition when he instead raced the Tour of Britain, the Basques rider is accustomed to traveling overseas to tackle the two one-day WorldTour races.

“The races in Canada are not the best for me,” said Izagirre as he received his massage the night before the seventh edition of the Grand Prix Cyclistes de Montréal. “I like these races in Canada. The organization is great and the hotels are nice but they aren’t the best for me. I prefer one week tours.”

Izagirre is the type of rider who has shown throughout his career that he excels in wet conditions. Case in point, his win at the Tour came from the break after attacking on the wet descent of the Col de Joux Plane to triumph in Morzine on Stage 20

“I like the rain, for other guys it is hard but for me I like it.” It was not surprising then to hear that the town he grew up in sees a considerable amount of rain fall. Izagirre has built his success this season with strong performances in time trials and by hanging with the climbers in the mountains during the one-week races. In 2015 he won the Tour of Poland in this fashion.

One of these things is not like the other

A large part of athletes performances comes down to their gear. Izagirre has been riding in Diadora’s shoes since 2014. “They are great shoes. It’s my third year with Diadora, they are nice, comfortable and light.” For a rider who excels in inclement weather, Izagirre said that having a shoe that is versatile is important and in all the conditions riders encounters throughout the season they continue to perform as he likes.

Professional riders juggle delicate schedules throughout the season and traveling to North America takes a considerable about of acclimatization. Izagirre said that traveling is strenuous on the body. “It’s difficult eh, the travel is long. I try to sleep on the airplane and bus but it takes time to acclimatize. ”

Despite having traveled to Canada five times now and been in North American for the Richmond world championships last year, Izagirre said that it would be nice to take a vacation in Canada. When asked what he would like to do he said, “Eat and maybe visit Banff, Toronto and see Montreal more. Stay easy and relax.”

Izagirre starts the Eneco Tour in Benelux on Monday where because of the race’s 10-km time trial he should be considered a contender for the general classification.