Road to the Tour pits Vingegaard against stiff competition at Itzulia Basque Country

Jonas Vingegaard’s road to the Tour de France defense will swerve through the six-day WorldTour stage race Itzulia Basque Country starting on Monday, April 3, in Spain. Vingegaard has nothing scheduled in May, but will take on June’s Critérium du Dauphiné, in which he was runner-up to Primož Roglič last season.

The Itzulia Basque Country, where Vingegaard was sixth last season and runner-up in 2021, is a curiously summit finish-free race for the Basque Country. Stage 1 Gastiez has an uphill finish, as does Stage 3, a 1.1-km wall of 9.6 percent and a section of 22 percent. There are 26 classified climbs over the six stages. The winner dons a Basque beret called a txapela.

Vingegaard dominated his first 2023 stage race, 2.1-rated O Gran Camiño, but faced difficulties while coming third in Paris-Nice, both the rampant Tadej Pogačar and David Gaudu his betters.

Gaudu is in the Basque Country to mix it up, as is Simon Yates, fourth in Paris-Nice and runner-up in the Tour Down Under. Vingegaard will also be wary of Movistar’s Enric Mas, sixth in Tirreno-Adriatico and fifth in the Ruta del Sol. The Bahrain-Victorious duo of Mikal Landa and Pello Bilbao hasn’t finished below seventh place in its six combined 2023 stage races. Jon Izagirre, last year’s runner-up and the 2019 winner, took Saturday’s one-day Gran Premio Miguel Indurain. Reigning champ Dani Martinez triumphed at the Volta ao Algarve but was underwhelming at Paris-Nice. Marc Soler’s fourth in Volta a Cataluyna was his best WorldTour stage race result in two years.