Favorites stage 1 Tour of the Basque Country 2025 | With the absence of riders like Ganna and Evenepoel, opportunities open up for a French rider
Cycling
The traditional spring season for the Flemish specialists is slowly approaching its climax while preparations are in full swing for the stage races. After Tirreno-Adriatico, Paris-Nice, and the Tour of Catalonia, the Tour of the Basque Country is another tough WorldTour race on the calendar. We start on Monday, day one, with a time trial. IDLProCycling.com gives you a detailed preview.
Route stage 1 Tour of the Basque Country 2025
We love a good time trial on day one! The course is 16.5 kilometers from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Baskonia Alavés. It is a time trial with one third-category climb, although, at 900 meters at 2.4 percent, it hardly qualifies as such. A nice little loop has been laid out, so there are no long, straight roads back to the starting point. However, it is not very technical, with only a few right-angled turns. Great for the specialists!
The official channels refer to 'steep climbs' in part one of the time trial, but we do not find these in the profile maps. 'From Libiano, it is a fast course, which made it favorable for the specialists.' The start and finish locations are close, making the start and finish a bit more technical.
times
Start: 08:15 AM EDT
Finish: 11:40 AM EDT
Weather stage 1 Tour of the Basque Country 2025
The weather will be fantastic on the first day in the Basque Country. The temperature will rise to a maximum of 20 degrees in the afternoon, and there will be hardly any wind, which is always good news for sensitive time trial bikes.
Favorites stage 1 Tour of the Basque Country 2025
Looking for time trial specialists, Remco Evenepoel, Filippo Ganna, and Joshua Tarling are not on the start list. But there are some solid, fast riders in the race. UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in particular, hopes for a strong start, with Brandon McNulty, João Almeida, and Isaac Del Toro as very good time trialists.
The other GC contenders will have to focus on limiting the damage. However, Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Finn Fisher-Black, Daniel Felipe Martínez and Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) and Soudal-Quick Step duo Maximilian Schachmann and Ilan Van Wilder are in good form and may even be able to compete for the win.
Because there are not many other real specialists except for Bruno Armirail of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, we are also curious about Visma | Lease a Bike, which always performs well in time trials, with Victor Campenaerts and Wilco Kelderman as long-time specialists. Finally, we mention Ethan Hayter of Quick Step, who in his best days belonged to the absolute world top in this discipline.
Favorites stage 1 Tour of the Basque Country 2025, according to IDLProCycling.com
Top favorites: Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Ethan Hayter (Soudal-Quick Step)
Outsiders: João Almeida and Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Maximilian Schachmann (Soudal-Quick Step) and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek)
Long shots: Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-Quick Step), Aleksandr Vlasov and Daniel Felipe Martínez (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Victor Campenaerts and Wilco Kelderman (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Bram van der Ploeg (Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email: [email protected])
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Latest Comments
- Such negative comments that are truly inappropriate and actually ridiculous. He sounds like an old man, bitter that he can't race anymore. Why can't he just be gracious? Or just shut up. Instead of howling for attention, in such a rude manner. Must be Dementia creeping in. We are all living in the Now. Records are there, and some are being broken, some are unapproachable. If he doesn't like it, and it makes him sick, maybe he ought start watching some other sport. Don't want the old mans health to be upset.
reemmo031-03-2025 - Roger De Vlaeminck inspires me to create a new beer: "Bitter Old Twat Belgian".JackInhof31-03-2025
- Shoot, I'll ride it for 1/10 of what his pay for that day is😅Veganpotter30-03-2025
- What is this? The Lance Armstrong daily cheaters channel? I could care less about Johan and Lance the seven times cheater. Greg Lemond was right all along, Why don't you write about that instead of these two knuckleheads.velodrone28-03-2025
- Are we all doomed to hear from Lance Armstrong and Johan bruneel until the end of time? It's not enough the stain they left on cycling? Do we have to see that shadow forever?bigyakman26-03-2025
- I am not sure if it is the hardest to win. In Flanders and Roubaix well before the finish the Peleton will be decimated and the race will normally be won by the best rider of the day or maybe 2nd or 3rd in case of a mechanical or unlucky break especially in case of Roubaix. In San Remo just before the finish there will still be several riders in contention and they are hard to ditch. For the best riders it is a race hard to win since it is not so selective. But if you are not a top 5 rider but still a top 10 rider this race is your best change to win. You will see more Milan San remo Winners with only 1 monument win than any other monumentsJoostmehrtens19-03-2025
- "fap fap fap oh Lance oh oh OHHHHHHH" again. Does he pay you to dredge up people with nice things to say about him? He was an giant a$$hole to people. It is a fact. Whatever his contrition about the doping, he is unapologetic about being a giant a$$hole to people. (Why yes, I do only login to complain. *I* am however only a giant a$$hole to people who laud giant a$$holes.)ericjensenridesbikes25-02-2025
- Remco is still very young. And injuries can absolutely keep you from overdoing it and getting worse. The recent Remco accident didn't keep him from being able to ride a recumbent inside. Wout's knee is a different story thoughVeganpotter23-01-2025
- Van der Poel style is winning by a half a lap and leading the race from the end of the second lap.
Barnes127420-01-2025 - If she thinks talent alone will put her there she will not see many podium finishes much less a GC finish.....work as a team utilizing tactics to consistently be at the top.Germanrazor10-01-2025