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Itzulia Basque Country 2021, Spain, April 5 - April 10

Page 2 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
A lot of walls and cold weather, should be interesting. Both Pogacar and Roglic are explosive climbers and fast finishers. Plus the TT should give them some advantage over pure climbers. OTOH a pure and in-form climber like Yates will be hard to beat on these steepest sections. Can't look past these 3. My prediction: Pogacar with a small margin over his main rivals.
 
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There goes my theory that Roglic and Pogacar are avoiding each other.

It's different: everybody is avoiding Roglic (thus such a weak field at recent PN). After his falls they fear him a bit less and haven't withdrawn from the Basque Tour (yet). Still, it takes only one ominous look by the Terminator and everybody (including the organizers) will exit the race.
 
If the crash didn't set him back too much I would give Roglic the advantage over Pogacar on this route. These short to medium length climbs with super steep gradients are really playing to his strenghts. The TT coming on stage one should also be slightly more favourable to him. Adam Yates' level in shorter stage races compared to the two Slovenians is harder to estimate but will be really intresting to see.
 
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Pogacar, Yates and Roglic normally for the podium.

But who will be the best of the rest? My bet: Izagirre
It hardly ever happens that the three top favorites all finish on the podium. Probably at least one other will sneak in. Landa and Chaves will lose time in the time trial, so Mas, Schachmann and Mollema look more likely. I also wonder if Hugh Carthy can confirm his good Vuelta.
 
Really hope Roglic isn't gun shy on the steep descents if the weather is bad and avoids crashes. Listing Cort as the sprinter is quite funny as I would not be surprised if Roglic and Pogacar are just as quick on a finish after hard stages in a race like Itzulia.
 
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The Bora squad looks really solid with Buchmann, Schachmann, Kelderman and Konman.

Yes, this Bora team looks ambitious (like some other teams as well). Kelderman(n), Schachmann and Buchmann would each be candidates for a top 5 placement. I'm curious about Buchmann before his Giro maiden voyage. I do not see him as the team captain here tbh.

At first I thought that Fabbro would also start, but it looks like Bendedetti slipped into the team.
I'm also looking forward to Aleotti. I'm curious to see if he'll start at the Giro despite his young age.
 
Maybe you need to hope that ASO buys Izulia Basque Country in the near future.
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It hardly ever happens that the three top favorites all finish on the podium. Probably at least one other will sneak in. Landa and Chaves will lose time in the time trial, so Mas, Schachmann and Mollema look more likely. I also wonder if Hugh Carthy can confirm his good Vuelta.
What Mas? Did you watched him this year? Also, this short, steep stuff isn't exactly his thing...