Itzulia Basque Country 2022 – GC Preview.
Stage 1 – Prologue. A hilly TT to kick things off with.

Stage 2.
A hilly start and some hills at the end. One of them few shots for the fast men.

Stage 3.
It should be too hard for the sprinters. Is it hard enough for the GC riders? We have 3500 meters of climbing.

Stage 4.
Urrutzimendi and Vivero. It should be a good stage, most likely with a winner attacking on the last descend.

Stage 5.
A lot of climbs in the last half of the stage. It should be a wonderful stage to watch. We have a very steep finale too.

Stage 6.
Short and explosive. Probably one of those stages, you will rewatch in the offseason.

Weather
The weather should be good most of the week. Rain on Wednesday and Saturday may spice things up.
Contenders
Jumbo-Visma with Vingegaard and Roglic. 1st in Paris – Nice and 2nd in Tirreno – Adriatico. It is their race to lose, but I doubt they will. Tactically, they were brilliant last year in this race. Having two riders of that caliber will be almost impossible to beat for the other teams. Kuss, Mader and Harper as the main domestiques – otherwise Jonas will step in for Primoz or vice versa.
UAE has not been too tactically brilliant when they do not ride for Pogacar. Plenty of quality, but I do not see them having a real shot at the GC.
Quick-Step with Alaphillipe and Evenepoel. It is a good route for both of them with no very long efforts. I doubt they will win, but they will ride offensively.
INEOS has a very good team here. Martinez is looking very good – for Christ’s sake let us see what he can do as a leader in a grand tour. Rodriguez has faded a bit but did well before that particular race. Adam Yates was a bit disappointing in Paris – Nice. He did quite well here last season. They are the ones threatening Jumbo – Visma.
Bilbao has found some form too. A solid rider, often overlooked. He is gradually getting better this season and I would be very surprised if he does not finish in the top-10 overall.
Gaudu is back after a nasty crash. It is a good route for him as the TT is quite hilly. I doubt he is fit enough to win.
Higuita is flying. An overall win in Catalunya is huge for him. He will lose a bit of time against the clock, but he will be looking at the podium.
Woods has been battling the pelotonflu like so many others. I hope he is riding well, it would be a shame if he is not up there in the Ardennes Classics in a few weeks.
Who will win?
Primoz Roglic is in his own league here. A win for the bees.