Riders Ready for Basque Cycling Test

This seems like a good warm up for the Tour de France.

Hopefully this will be the year when the Basque riders return to their right places among the top of the pack.

Here you have a preview published by the Daily Peloton:

Euskal Bizikleta 2006 Preview

A few weeks after the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, top-class cycling makes its way back to the Basque Country of Spain for another stage challenge: the Euskal Bizikleta (Bicicleta Vasca-Basque Bicycle), that perhaps is a bit lesser known than its early spring, UCI Pro Tour counterpart, and unable to draw a similar star-studded field to the roads (and notably hills) of Euskadi, but still features four Pro Tour-licensed squads (Illes Balears, Würth, Saunier Duval and ""home team"" Euskaltel) and several world-class riders - from Beloki to Luis Leon Sánchez, from Haimar Zubeldia and fellow Euskaltel-man Samuel Sánchez to the sprinting duo of Ventoso and Vicioso - in the startlist, and can make for five days and as many stages (one of which split in two halves) of epic riding. That might have some members of the English-speaking contingent there (Aaron Kemps, Ruan Cox, Tiaan Kannemeyer et al.) as protagonists.

Wednesday' race opener takes the peloton from Eibar to Arrigorriaga (Bizkaia province) over 165.5 km., with three categorised climbs in the menu, the toughest one being the Cat. 1 Alto de Urkiola, which comes a bit too early in the stage (km.28), but the Cat. 3 Zaratamo comes with less than 10k to go.

Thursday's stage two is a 174-km. journey from Arrigorriaga to Ispaster, still in Bizkaia area. A darn hilly effort with seven difficulties (all but one being Cat. 3 climbs only though; the third category Ereño comes under a dozen kms. from the line).

Friday's stage three has the first mountain top finish (on the cat. 2 Salinas de Leniz) of the race. But we'll be gifted with five more ascents (three third category climbs early into the stage followed by two seconds category climbs) too.

Saturday's opening half-stage, that covers just 84.1 km. from the same town of Salinas de Leniz to another place in the Araba province (Salvatierra), is one for the sprinters. The 21.2-km effort around Salvatierra they're going to sustain in the afternoon is one for the specialists against the clock instead.

Such key (maybe) ITT is followed by another (presumably) crucial stage, Sunday's "usual" final ride of 157.7 km. starting in front of the Basque Television (EITB) HQs at Iurreta (Bizkaia) and finishing atop the Arrate ascent. Those still left in the peloton will be going over no less than seven categorised climbs (two ascents of the Cat. 1 Ixua and one of the equally categorised Usartza included) before making it to the line.

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