Classic look to País Vasco route

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Sergio Henao (Sky) is the new leader of the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco after his victory on stage 3. (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

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For the second straight year, Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) won stage 2 at Pais Vasco in Vitoria (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

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2012 Vuelta al Pais Vasco winner Sammy Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) speaks to the press. (Image credit: Susanne Goetze / cyclinginside.com)

The Basque Country hasn’t had much to cheer in recent months, but the region’s biggest race has at least managed to weather the economic crisis in Spain. Although its future was under threat in 2012, the Vuelta al País Vasco will once again form part of the WorldTour calendar in 2014, featuring a route that mixes well-established tradition with some interesting tests, notably on the opening day.

Contador holds on while contenders slip away at Pais Vasco

Porte wins penultimate Pais Vasco stage with late solo attack

Quintana wins overall at Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco

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Peter Cossins

Peter Cossins has written about professional cycling since 1993 and is a contributing editor to Procycling. He is the author of The Monuments: The Grit and the Glory of Cycling's Greatest One-Day Races (Bloomsbury, March 2014) and has translated Christophe Bassons' autobiography, A Clean Break (Bloomsbury, July 2014).

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