'I'm at the disposal of the team' says in-form Ineos rider
Itzulia Basque Country 2022 overview
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Daniel Martínez wins Itzulia Basque Country(Image credit: Getty Images)
Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) moves to overall race lead after third-place finish on stage 5(Image credit: Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
Dani Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers) won stage 4 in a sprint finish(Image credit: Luis Angel Gomez/SprintCyclingAgency)
Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) won stage 3 of Itzulia Basque Country just ahead of Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) (Image credit: Gonzalo Arroyo MorenoGetty Images)
Dani Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers) won the overall title at Itzulia Basque Country on the final stage 6 into Arrate. The Colombian finished in a select lead group on the final ascent to take the overall race victory from a distanced overnight leader Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl).
He won the overall title by 11 seconds ahead of stage 6 winner Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) and 16 seconds ahead of Aleksandr Vlasov (BORA-hansgrohe).
Martinez, Izagirre, and Vlasov, along with Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) arrived at the crest of the climb in a select group. Soler led out the sprint that paved the way for Izagirre to take the stage win, while Martinez secured the overall victory.
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Stage 6 - Top 10
Pos.
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Cofidis
3:47:07
2
Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Bora-Hansgrohe
3
Marc Soler (Spa) UAE Team Emirates
4
Daniel Martinez Poveda (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
5
Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma
6
Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia (Spa) Bahrain Victorious
0:00:03
7
Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
0:00:24
8
Juan Pedro Lopez Perez (Spa) Trek-Segafredo
0:00:52
9
Davide Formolo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates
0:01:29
10
Felix Gall (Aut) AG2R Citroen Team
0:01:41
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Final general classification after stage 6
Pos.
Rider Name (Country) Team
Result
1
Daniel Martinez Poveda (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
21:59:36
2
Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Cofidis
0:00:11
3
Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Bora-Hansgrohe
0:00:16
4
Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team
0:00:21
5
Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia (Spa) Bahrain Victorious
Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) attacked with 14km to go and went into time trial mode to win on the steep ascent in Mallabia. The 21-year-old was part of the original breakaway of the day that developed with 100km to go in the 181.7km stage and claimed the first victory of his professional career.
His Ineos teammate Daniel Martinez would storm past Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) in the scintillating uphill final to give Ineos the top two spots, while Evenepoel moved into the GC lead.
The rain-soaked roads wore down many riders with a series of densely-packed climbs, including race leader Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) could not match accelerations from Evenepoel when the QuickStep-AlphaVinyl rider launched a vicious assault with 3km to the summit of the penultimate climb of the Karabieta.
The final climb to the finish included 16 per cent gradients that provided no grip, causing Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) to became entangled and crash in the final 50 metres. Both men were forced to walk their bikes across the finish line. Roglič would finish another minute behind and drop to eighth overall.
Dani Martinez (Ineos Grenadiers) grabbed the uphill sprint victory on stage 4 of Itzulia Basque Country and held of Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) at the line. Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) finished third.
Among the selective front group reaching the conclusion in Zamudio after 185.6km of racing was race leader Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) who was fourth. He kept his five-second lead on Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), with Martinez moving up five places to third thanks to the time bonus. The stage winner is now only 11 seconds down on Roglič.
The hilly coastal loop near Bilbao brought a tough finale, which saw Victor Lafay (Cofidis) launch a solo attack from a group four with 25km to go. He was caught with 1km to go as Remco Evenepoel again took up a lead-out role for Alaphilippe, but they could not hold off Martinez at the end.
Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) won stage 3 of Itzulia Basque Country Wednesday in an uphill sprint contested with 13 riders, most of the GC contenders. Less a bike length separated the Basque rider from runner-up Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl). In third place and the final rider to grab bonus sprints at the finish in Amurrio was Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe).
For a second day in a row, Remco Evenepoel provided the lead-out for teammate Alaphilippe, only this time Bilbao got the better of him at the line. Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) was in the front group and retained the race lead. Evenepoel remained in second at five seconds back, while Vlasov moved up to within 14 seconds of Roglič in his third-place position.
The third stage of the 2022 Itzulia Basque Country was the toughest yet, taking in five classified climbs and many more besides as the peloton traversed 181.7km from Laudio to Amurrio.
GC losers included UAE Team Emirates' Marc Soler (33 seconds down), Bora-Hansgrohe's Emanuel Buchmann (2:20 down), and Israel-Premier Tech's Michael Woods (2:25 down).
Julian Alaphilippe (Quick Step-AlphaVinyl) won stage 2 of the 2022 Itzulia Basque Country using a leadout by teammate Remco Evenepoel. It was his first victory for 2022.
Fellow Frenchman Fabien Doubey (TotalEnergies) finished second and Quinten Hermans (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) took third.
The rolling 207.9-kilometre stage between Leitza and Viana saw a four-rider breakaway gain as much as five minutes over the peloton on the longest of the six stages. Three of the riders, Julen Amezqueta (Caja Rural), Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH) and Ibai Azurmendi (Euskaltel - Euskadi), were reeled in eventually, but Ibon Ruiz (Equipo Kern Pharma) struck out on his own. He was caught with less than 500 metres from the line by a charging field led by QuickStep.
Stage 1 winner Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) retained the overall lead as the race now heads to a more complicated and hilly stage 3 from Laudio to Amurrio on Wednesday.
Jumbo-Visma's Primož Roglič sailed to victory on the opening day of the 2022 Itzulia Basque Country with a fault-free ride on the 7.5-kilometre, hilly time trial in Hondarribia.
QuickStep-AlphaVinyl had a pair of riders on the podium with the defending champion, Remco Evenepoel in second place by five seconds and Rémi Cavagna in third by 16 seconds.
The first day of racing for the six-day Spanish race saw decent time gaps between the GC contenders already, with Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates of Ineos Grenadiers, along with Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) trailing 18 seconds back and Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) at 20 seconds down. Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) suffered a mechanical and bike change on one of the short climbs to go down 44 seconds.
The race began in 1924, then known as the GP Excelsior, with early winners including Francis Pellissier, 1929 Tour de France winner Maurice De Waele, and, in 1935, Gino Bartali.
In 1936, the race shut down seemingly for good due to the Spanish Civil War. Despite Francisco Franco's oppressive reign though, there were several attempts to resume the race in Bilbao and San Sebastián, none of which took hold.
In the 1950s, it was resurrected as a race in Eibar, which became the Eibarko Bizikleta, later the Euskal Bizikleta, and then the Tour of the Basque Country in 1969.
Jacques Anquetil, Luis Ocaña (twice), Sean Kelly (three times), and record four-time winner José Antonio González were among the winners in the 18 years before the race split apart again, with the Euskal Bizikleta going solo in until re-merging after the world financial crisis of 2008.
In the meantime, Tony Rominger dominated the race in the early 1990s, while Iban Mayo, Denis Menchov and Danilo Di Luca were among the notable victors of the 2000s. UCI regulations brought in place in 2006 saw the end of the split-stage – one road stage, one time trial – which had been part of the race since 1969, with the six-day format that exists today being brought in in its place.
Race organisers rejected a buyout proposal from Vuelta a España organisers Unipublic shortly after the 2008 financial crisis, while the Euskal Bizikleta merger brought aboard the Alto de Arrate climb in 2009, forming the race we know today.
In 2012, financial problems reappeared due to government, with the race at serious risk of stopping altogether before a combination of fund-raising channels – including from fans, and sponsorship from Banco Sabadell Guipuzcoano – saved it.
Four years later, Alberto Contador won his fourth edition of the race, equalling González's record in one of the final victories of his storied career. Primož Roglič's win in 2021 was his second, his final day comeback adding another strand of history to the famed Arrate. The Slovenian will be back for number three this year.
