Itzulia Basque Country 2026, April 6-11

[Red Rick]

There's a difference between having a stupidly good punch for a climber and being the complete package as a GC rider that quite a few people have refused to acknowledge when it comes to Del Toro. Even taking into account the obvious underperformance, today revealed some of that disconnect.

TTs in 1 week stage races is honestly the place where Pogacar and Vingegaard have been most likely to drop a turd in the last few years.

 

[memyselfandI]

A real stinker of a tt by Ayuso.

Yeah, really bad one this time.

 

[canina82]

There's a difference between having a stupidly good punch for a climber and being the complete package as a GC rider that quite a few people have refused to acknowledge when it comes to Del Toro. Even taking into account the obvious underperformance, today revealed some of that disconnect.

What is your point exactly? You are saying Del Toro will not be able to win a GT in the future?

 

[Rob5091]

Probably not in the best form after his injury.

Obviously not!

Chapeau to young Seixas on the win - let's see how things go in the next couple of days.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

What a weird top ten.

POS			RIDER	TEAM	UCI	TIME​
1			SEIXAS Paul	Decathlon CMA CGM Team	50​	00:17:09​
2			VAUQUELIN Kévin	INEOS Grenadiers	30​	+ 23​
3			GROSSSCHARTNE Felix	UAE Team Emirates-XRG	25​	+ 27​
4			ROGLIC Primoz	Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe	20​	+ 28​
5			VAN WILDER Ilan	Soudal Quick-Step	15​	+ 29​
6			LIPOWITZ Florian	Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe	10​	+ 33​
7			AUGUST AJ	INEOS Grenadiers	8​	+ 40​
8			MCNULTY Brandon	UAE Team Emirates-XRG	6​	+ 43​
9			SKJELMOSE Mattias	Lidl-Trek	3​	+ 45​
10			LEONARD Michael	EF Education-EasyPost	1​	+ 46​

 

[Escarabajo]

Seixas better be ready for the STOMP!!!

 

[memyselfandI]

Probably opens up good race this one. UAE, Trek, Ineos they're not first time in a stage race. But it's hilly af so Seixas can arrange some workout for everyone to get fit for the summer!

 

[Dazed and Confused]

24

Izagirre Ion

Cofidis

1:01

45.578

Still in the game. Beware.

 

[AmRacer]

The rest of the week will be a fight, good.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

TTs in 1 week stage races is honestly the place where Pogacar and Vingegaard have been most likely to drop a turd in the last few years.

The last time Pogacar missed the top-5 in a TT in a one-week race was Itzulia in his debut pro season. Vingegaard has been less consistent, but barring the GC neutralised TT at Gran Camiño in 2024 you need to go back to the extremely anti-climber Tirreno 2022 TT for his last time outside the top-9. Meanwhile Del Toro has only finished in the top-10 of a one-week race TT once, and that is more than two years ago now.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

24

Izagirre Ion

Cofidis

1:01

45.578

Still in the game. Beware.

He was one of the riders that improved their time from 2021, so another top 10 finish, maybe more, should be secure

 

[Brullnux]

Who is this even supposed to point to?

Campanaerts I think

 

[tobydawq]

Campanaerts I think

Deleted out of embarrassment.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

From T1 to T2:

1	SOLER Marc	1.30,0	94.000 km/h
2	SEIXAS Paul	1.48,0	78.333
3	ARANBURU Alex	1.51,0	76.216
4	LIPOWITZ Florian	1.51,0	76.216

What??? 16.7% faster than anyone else on that stretch?

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

From T1 to T2:

1	SOLER Marc	1.30,0	94.000 km/h
2	SEIXAS Paul	1.48,0	78.333
3	ARANBURU Alex	1.51,0	76.216
4	LIPOWITZ Florian	1.51,0	76.216

What??? 16.7% faster than anyone else on that stretch?

The times have been eccentric today on PCS, I guess it's another mistake.

 

[Brullnux]

From T1 to T2:

1	SOLER Marc	1.30,0	94.000 km/h
2	SEIXAS Paul	1.48,0	78.333
3	ARANBURU Alex	1.51,0	76.216
4	LIPOWITZ Florian	1.51,0	76.216

What??? 16.7% faster than anyone else on that stretch?

There was a strava KoM he hadn't been able to win in the past so that was his main aim today

 

[yaf2]

The battle of the two rams in the 2027 Tour will shatter galaxies.

Already this year will be special. I said it already that he has reached the level of vingegaard in the winter & will give him a difficult time for 2nd place in the tour.

 

[Escarabajo]

From T1 to T2:

1	SOLER Marc	1.30,0	94.000 km/h
2	SEIXAS Paul	1.48,0	78.333
3	ARANBURU Alex	1.51,0	76.216
4	LIPOWITZ Florian	1.51,0	76.216

What??? 16.7% faster than anyone else on that stretch?

Or else!

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Stage 2:

After today, the recipe seems pretty clear for several teams. A little sprint at the end won't make it.

 

[canina82]

Already this year will be special. I said it already that he has reached the level of vingegaard in the winter & will give him a difficult time for 2nd place in the tour.

The way he is improving, I might agree with you.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

What is your point exactly? You are saying Del Toro will not be able to win a GT in the future?

Not at his current level, he won't. Last year's Giro was the weakest field (post-abandons) of any GT post-2020 Giro, the route was right up his alley, and he got spanked on the two only hard mountain stages. If he continues to develop and stays at UAE he will be allowed to peak for enough Giri and Vueltas to win another weak one, and that is probably his ceiling.

 

[Peyresourde]

Some notes on today's TT:

- The wind only changed slightly during the TT from SE to SSE (perhaps slightly worse for this course) and may have even gotten a bit weaker. The difference should be 5 seconds at most in favor of the earlier starters.

- It was 28° in the beginning and went up to 30° for the last starters. In my experience, the first very warm/ hot day of the year often causes extreme underperformances for many riders, which we have seen here again.

- Ayuso not recovered from Paris Nice. Del Toro seems to be over his form peak (almost no one can do 3 one weeks in a row in peak shape)

- Roglic was disappointing for me, he may really be declining a bit

- In general, the level of the secondary GC riders here (and all year long) has not been impressive at all and we definitely have not seen another step up in general level this year (rather opposite for many riders)

- I expected Seixas to win, but the gaps are extreme. Only Combloux Vingegaard or TDF-level Pogacar would have beaten him today. His technical abilities seem extremely strong, which is good in general but relativizes his pure level here slightly.

- The GC seems over already. There will be quite a hard and long climb (atypical for the Basque Country) tomorrow where Seixas will probably launch. If he repeats a performance like in Faun Ardeche...

 

[Old-school]

Yes he must take the opportunity of tomorrow long climb to smash the others

 

[canina82]

Not at his current level, he won't. Last year's Giro was the weakest field (post-abandons) of any GT post-2020 Giro, the route was right up his alley, and he got spanked on the two only hard mountain stages. If he continues to develop and stays at UAE he will be allowed to peak for enough Giri and Vueltas to win another weak one, and that is probably his ceiling.

I don't think many believed he could win the TdF.
A small GT is very in reach, specially the Vuelta. With current Seixas, everyone (not named Pogacar) can say goodbye to a TdF win.

 

[Red Rick]

Some notes on today's TT:

- The wind only changed slightly during the TT from SE to SSE (perhaps slightly worse for this course) and may have even gotten a bit weaker. The difference should be 5 seconds at most in favor of the earlier starters.

- It was 28° in the beginning and went up to 30° for the last starters. In my experience, the first very warm/ hot day of the year often causes extreme underperformances for many riders, which we have seen here again.

- Ayuso not recovered from Paris Nice. Del Toro seems to be over his form peak (almost no one can do 3 one weeks in a row in peak shape)

- Roglic was disappointing for me, he may really be declining a bit

- In general, the level of the secondary GC riders here (and all year long) has not been impressive at all and we definitely have not seen another step up in general level this year (rather opposite for many riders)

- I expected Seixas to win, but the gaps are extreme. Only Combloux Vingegaard or TDF-level Pogacar would have beaten him today. His technical abilities seem extremely strong, which is good in general but relativizes his pure level here slightly.

- The GC seems over already. There will be quite a hard and long climb (atypical for the Basque Country) tomorrow where Seixas will probably launch. If he repeats a performance like in Faun Ardeche...

A number of riders have raced in the UAE and other gulf states already this season, I'm not sure they should still struggle as much with the first hot day. But then the heat adaptation may just go away.