Early April is a bike-racing bonanza for cycling fans. 

In the six days that separate the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix—holy week for the hard-men of the northern classics—the world’s best stage racers take on one of the hardest weeks of racing outside a grand tour.

Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco (or, the Tour of the Basque Country) is held in the autonomous region of northern Spain known as the Basque Country. For years, the cycling-mad heart of this cycling-mad country boasted its own WorldTour team, Euskaltel-Euskadi, comprised almost entirely of riders of Basque origin.

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The mountainous terrain in the north of Spain provides a seemingly endless supply of steep climbs, and the rabid fans lining the summits rival crowds at the Vuelta and Tour.

Made For Mountain Climbers

The race is made for explosive climbers. Alberto Contador won four of the last 10 editions, and similarly aggressive mountain men such as Nairo Quintana, Joaquim Rodriguez, and Alejandro Valverde also count recent wins at the Tour of the Basque amongst their palmarees.

Defending champion Alejandro Valverde will not be contesting the 2018 edition. However, his Movistar team will remain hard to beat with both Mikel Landa and 2013 champion Nairo Quintana in attendance.

An End With A Punch

The 2018 edition of this race begins in Zarautz and ends a mere 40 kilometers away in Arrate.

However, the six-day race will take competitors across 806 kilometers, featuring no less than 23 categorized climbs. Only stage four offers the racers a brief reprieve from climbing as they tackle a 19.4-kilometer individual time trial.

The biggest test will come on the race’s final stage, which features eight categorized climbs over the course of just 122 kilometers. With two category four climbs in the first 20 kilometers, and a category one summit finish on the Usartza (which averages 12.7 percent gradient over just 3.1 kilometers), the finale will challenge any team hoping to defend a GC lead.