Tour of the Basque Country 2024: GC Favourites

[Underneath text was written before the start of the Tour of the Basque Country and has not been updated]

The GC action ignites as early as the first day, as the race opens with an individual time trial. Stage 2 is made of the material that sprinters and/or attackers find appealing before stage 3 takes in an elevation gain of over 3,000 metres, although the last 18 kilometres are played out on the flat. A day for the breakaway or a sprint of a select group – both are likely outcomes.

Same story on the fourth and fifth day. On paper, both routes look enticing for attackers, but the tables turn when the GC riders decide to go for it.

No matter what happened before, the GC battle comes down to the final stage. Seven classified ascents account for a total elevation gain of 3,400 metres on a 137.9 kilometres long route. The interesting aspect is that the climbs are situated relatively far from the line. So attacks should come early.

So far, five riders have been successful in the UCI World Tour stage races of 2024 – Stephen Williams (Tour Down Under), Lennert Van Eetvelt (UAE Tour), Matteo Jorgenson (Paris-Nice), Jonas Vingegaard (Tirreno-Adriatico), and Tadej Pogacar (Volta a Catalunya). Only Vingegaard lines up for the start in the Basque Country. He was in a class of his own in the Tirreno, not only winning two stages, but also finishing way ahead of the first and second runner-up Juan Ayuso and Jai Hindley on GC.

Three former winners line-up at the start in Irun – title defender Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic (2021, 2018), and home rider Ion Izagirre (2019).

Favourites 2024 Tour of the Basque Country

***** Jonas Vingegaard
**** Primoz Roglic, Remco Evenepoel
*** Mikel Landa, Juan Ayuso, Mattias Skjelmose
** Santiago Buitrago, Jai Hindley, Pello Bilbao
* Sepp Kuss, Carlos Rodriguez, Jay Vine, David Gaudu