Itzulia Basque Country: Those fleeting moments that made the race

From Roglic's long wait in the hot seat to that final winning pact
Brandon McNulty promises to ‘keep on fighting’ despite Itzulia Basque Country defeat

23-year-old American on track for strong Giro d’Italia after impressing in spring stage races
Jumbo-Visma celebrate their dominance at Itzulia Basque Country

Roglic and Vingegaard win all jerseys after isolating McNulty and Pogacar on final stage

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Itzulia Basque Country Dates: April 5, 2021 - April 10, 2021
Category: UCI WorldTour
Overall distance: 797.7km

Primoz Roglic wins Itzulia Basque Country

Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) won the overall title at the Itzulia Basque Country on Saturday.

Roglič went on the attack to expose, crack and distance overnight leader Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) to secure overall victory during the final hilly stage 6 to Arrate.

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) tried to pace his teammate McNulty on the steep Krabelin climb, but then abandoned the American to set off in pursuit of Roglic, with other riders sitting on his wheel all the way to the finish.

David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) went on the attack with Roglič over the day's final climb, and then took the stage 6 victory, with Roglič happy to have won overall.

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Itzulia Basque Country - Final Results
Pos.	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ	3:05:43
2	Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma
3	Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team	0:00:34
4	Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
5	Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
6	Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma
7	Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia (Spa) Bahrain Victorious	0:01:02
8	Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Team BikeExchange	0:01:05
9	Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Bahrain Victorious
10	Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep	0:01:53

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Final general classification after stage 6
Pos.	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma	19:11:36
2	Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma	0:00:52
3	Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates	0:01:07
4	Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers	0:01:26
5	David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ	0:01:27
6	Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia (Spa) Bahrain Victorious	0:01:28
7	Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team	0:01:33
8	Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Bahrain Victorious	0:02:17
9	Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Team BikeExchange	0:02:38
10	Ion Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana-Premier Tech	0:02:59

Itzulia Basque Country history

After being cancelled in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the 60th edition of Itzulia Basque Country will take place from Monday April 5 to Saturday April 10, 2020.

Formerly known as the Tour of the Basque Country and Vuelta al Pais Vasco, the Itzulia continues to be decided on the steep, mountainous terrain of the Basque territory.

Climbs such as the Alto de Arrate, Alto de Aia and the Alto de Asensio have historically been where the race has been decided but for 2021, the course is a bit more open until the final stage, which ends atop the category 1 ascent of the Arrate.

Past winners include notable climbers like Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana, Joaquim Rodriguez, Alejandro Valverde and Primoz Roglic. Ion Izagirre (Astana) took the last victory in the Itzulia Basque Country in the 2019 edition taking the overall win on the final stage and unseating Emanuel Buchmann.