Itzulia Basque Country 2022 April 4-9

[johnymax]

I remember one of the Yates brothers dropping an in-shape Roglic on a murito in Tirreno. I think it was Adam.

It was one of those rare occasions where Roglic actually got dropped. Basque climbs are Yates Bros climbs so I wouldn't rule him out completely.

Yes it was Adam in 2019 in a great stage won by Fuglsang.

 

[johnymax]

Same gap between him and the 3rd than between the 3rd and the 24th... don't know what you need to be superhuman.

You need to put those results into context. Of the let's say top 20 TT riders in the world, only three were on the startlist today (you can arguably put Thomas and Vingegaard in there too). One of them, Cavagna, is far from top form at the moment as he was sick in the last month. The other two did a great ride and finished 1st and 2nd as predicted and even if all of Ganna, Kung, Wout, Pogačar, Asgreen, Dumoulin, Dennis, MvdP, Affini, Bissegger, Almeida, McNulty, Cort, SKA, Tratnik, Simon (I had to, lol) were there, it wouldn't have been a huge surprise if the first two places remained the same. Yet if you put those names on this course, the difference from 1st to 10th is probably just around 10s, not more.

 

[tobydawq]

Damn tectonic plates.

Lucky for Roglic that Remco rode so strongly that he flattened it a bit again.

 

[JosefK]

I can't believe I wasn't paying attention and missed the opening TT, but GCN posted a nice highlights video on YouTube for the stage. -- Still checking my mind & senses after that crazy race on Sunday.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

This shouldn't be a surprise given that it's Itzulia, but tomorrow's finale is deceptively tricky (profile made using data from the excellent Navarrese geoportal):

There is a roundabout at 850 metres from the line. Just inside the final 500 metres, they take a 90-degree right-hander off the main road onto the little kicker to the finish line. There are another two 90-degree turns after this, the final of which comes at 200 metres to go. The steepest part sits just after this turn.

Forum won't let me add it to my climb profile post unfortunately, oh well.

 

[VeloMaster]

This shouldn't be a surprise given that it's Itzulia, but tomorrow's finale is deceptively tricky (profile made using data from the excellent Navarrese geoportal):

There is a roundabout at 850 metres from the line. Just inside the final 500 metres, they take a 90-degree right-hander off the main road onto the little kicker to the finish line. There are another two 90-degree turns after this, the final of which comes at 200 metres to go. The steepest part sits just after this turn.

Forum won't let me add it to my climb profile post unfortunately, oh well.

Tailor-made for a stomp, no?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

This shouldn't be a surprise given that it's Itzulia, but tomorrow's finale is deceptively tricky (profile made using data from the excellent Navarrese geoportal):

There is a roundabout at 850 metres from the line. Just inside the final 500 metres, they take a 90-degree right-hander off the main road onto the little kicker to the finish line. There are another two 90-degree turns after this, the final of which comes at 200 metres to go. The steepest part sits just after this turn.

Forum won't let me add it to my climb profile post unfortunately, oh well.

This run in toward the town is the same as was used in stage 2 in 2010, although you can't really tell from the profile style they used back then. I checked on the maps though and they arrived in Viana from Torres del Rio that day too, although the stage maps don't seem to suggest they would be using the same finish as then - even though the profile would seem to suggest they are and the descriptions seem to match (although the roundabout was at the flamme rouge then, the position of the sweeping 150º right and final kicker seems to match up with the profile, the video footage does not match up with your description above however, as there are no further 90º turns, only a fairly shallow right turn at around 100m to go).

 

[staubsauger]

They are less of a threat than Gaudu or Huguita or Remco. They are tactically useless. Thomas won't like these roads. Yates won't attack. Too technical for Martinez. Goeghean Hart is not quite at that level

Geoghegan Hart looks worse than 2008-2010 Cunego to be honest!

Dunno what's wrong with him.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

This run in toward the town is the same as was used in stage 2 in 2010, although you can't really tell from the profile style they used back then. I checked on the maps though and they arrived in Viana from Torres del Rio that day too, although the stage maps don't seem to suggest they would be using the same finish as then - even though the profile would seem to suggest they are and the descriptions seem to match (although the roundabout was at the flamme rouge then, the position of the sweeping 150º right and final kicker seems to match up with the profile, the video footage does not match up with your description above however, as there are no further 90º turns, only a fairly shallow right turn at around 100m to go).

Definitely a different finish, it's also a different final roundabout as they don't make it to the four-lane road around Viana, instead turning right at the junction exactly a minute into the video. The roundabout comes 15 seconds earlier in the video, just after what was then the 2k to go banner, so the hills are also just a little closer to the finish than in 2010.

 

[search]

yeah, different finish indeed, they went further down into town. The blue line is 2010, red one tomorrow

 

[CyclistAbi]

Congratulations to Primož Roglič for taking the ITT win.

Remco performed great too. It was a short and sweet ITT. Nice to see Rogla relaxed and smiling. I feel that this stage race should offer plenty of opportunities for the competition to put Rogla under difficulty. Likely for Rogla to be strong on the last day. And who knows maybe for Vingegaard to get an opportunity for overall.

 

[red_flanders]

Geoghegan Hart looks worse than 2008-2010 Cunego to be honest!

Dunno what's wrong with him.

He has never been that good, and his big win was from a decimated GC field.

 

[houtdffan]

A crying shame that the TT was a mere 7km.

Why can this race not have the traditional 20-25 km ITT like it always had back in the Contador days? Yes, the race then heavily favored the TTers as the climbs typically have differences in terms of seconds. There is nothing wrong a some of the WT stage races favoring the TT specialists. Not ever race needs to favor the climbers

 

[CyclistAbi]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCKQrRTB7Yk


Apparently on the day before the race somebody filmed Rogla on an ITT reckoning ride.

 

[jonan92]

A crying shame that the TT was a mere 7km.

Why can this race not have the traditional 20-25 km ITT like it always had back in the Contador days? Yes, the race then heavily favored the TTers as the climbs typically have differences in terms of seconds. There is nothing wrong a some of the WT stage races favoring the TT specialists. Not ever race needs to favor the climbers

The main reason is that the identity of the race are short and steep climbs with little flat sections and aimed for climbers. The race route has improved in the last years and local people are happy with how it is

 

[Jumbo Visma Fan :)]

A crying shame that the TT was a mere 7km.

Why can this race not have the traditional 20-25 km ITT like it always had back in the Contador days? Yes, the race then heavily favored the TTers as the climbs typically have differences in terms of seconds. There is nothing wrong a some of the WT stage races favoring the TT specialists. Not ever race needs to favor the climbers

Not really a shame, it creates more of an open race as more people are close on seconds which like last year can create one of the best stage races of the year.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Not really a shame, it creates more of an open race as more people are close on seconds which like last year can create one of the best stage races of the year.

Is that really what happened though? Setting aside the fact that last year's TT wasn't as short, the defining factor was not there being small gaps, but UAE missing the split on one of the descents. Indeed, if gaps are too small, you risk everyone waiting until the final five kilometres of the race on Arrate, although that risk has definitely decreased since they've gone back to using the classic side as the MTF combined with the Krabelin side earlier on in the stage.

In a field with Roglic and a bunch of mediocre TTists as the main protagonists (provided that Evenepoel doesn't climb much better than he's managed on comparable climbs this year), a short TT does help, but had Pogacar been there as well a 20-25k TT would have been better, IMO. And if Evenepoel does end up being close to Roglic on the climbs, a flat or rolling TT of that length would also have set us up better as he could have put time into Roglic there, unlike in today's more technical and explosive affair.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

The TTs at the Itzulia have always been super complex and technical, just look at Orio 2010 or Oñati 2012. It was a climber's race even when there was a longer TT. This wasn't like the 2012 Dauphiné or 2011 Paris-Nice or something.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Lucky for Roglic that Remco rode so strongly that he flattened it a bit again.

That or due to the weight of his thighs.

Congratulations to Primož Roglič for taking the ITT win.

Remco performed great too. It was a short and sweet ITT. Nice to see Rogla relaxed and smiling. I feel that this stage race should offer plenty of opportunities for the competition to put Rogla under difficulty. Likely for Rogla to be strong on the last day. And who knows maybe for Vingegaard to get an opportunity for overall.

Evenepoel will simply start outsprinting him for boniseconds. Piece of cake.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

The TTs at the Itzulia have always been super complex and technical, just look at Orio 2010 or Oñati 2012. It was a climber's race even when there was a longer TT. This wasn't like the 2012 Dauphiné or 2011 Paris-Nice or something.

Well, except for the 2018 Lodosa TT. To be clear I wasn't arguing that that should be the template for the race, though, rather that it could hypothetically have been a better fit for this particular field.

 

[johnymax]

Well, except for the 2018 Lodosa TT. To be clear I wasn't arguing that that should be the template for the race, though, rather that it could hypothetically have been a better fit for this particular field.

Sorry, who won that non-technical Lodosa TT? I can't remember.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Sorry, who won that non-technical Lodosa TT? I can't remember.

...by a narrow margin, in a pretty weak field. Even if Roglic' TTing is a shade better now than four years ago, I don't think it's a stretch to say Evenepoel would have been heavily favoured to beat Roglic on that route if it had been raced today.

 

[johnymax]

...by a narrow margin, in a pretty weak field. Even if Roglic' TTing is a shade better now than four years ago, I don't think it's a stretch to say Evenepoel would have been heavily favoured to beat Roglic on that route if it had been raced today.

I would have given Remco the advantage, but nobody is heavily favoured against Roglič. I thought Ganna and Wout were heavily favoured in the Olympic TT. Boy was I wrong. I'm never underestimating Rogla again.

Also look at the gaps in GC after stage 5 of that edition of Itzulia (2018). One of the most dominant GC performances in a one week stage race I've ever seen, despite only winning one stage. IMO on par with Pogačar's recent T-A. He then lost a minute in the final stage due to a crash.

 

[The Barb]

I'm really hoping Ineos let Omar Fraile try for the stage 2 win. It suits him perfectly for either a late attack or a group sprint (the sprinter ranks at this race are very very weak). Surely their GC guys can manage without him in the last 10km.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Well, except for the 2018 Lodosa TT. To be clear I wasn't arguing that that should be the template for the race, though, rather that it could hypothetically have been a better fit for this particular field.

I was more responding to houtdffan's bewailing that "not every race needs to favour the climbers" and that there should be some races that the best TTer can win, which, while on the surface nothing to disagree with notwithstanding that in the early 2010s there were a bunch of "win the TT win the race" events which were equally dull as the Tour de Langkawi-style "win the MTF win the race" ones are now, nevertheless seems like an odd comment to make specifically regarding the race on the World Tour calendar which takes place in a region which is almost entirely mountainous and whose identity is most closely tied to climbing, and always has been.