Itzulia Basque Country 2026 Stage 1 Preview: Brutal 13.9km Bilbao Uphill TT Opens the Txapela Battle
The 2026 Itzulia Basque Country explodes into life on Monday with one of the most unusual and demanding opening time trials on the WorldTour calendar. The 13.9-kilometre effort from Bilbao to the suburb of Artxanda is short on paper but savage in reality: a 2.4km climb averaging seven per cent leads into a fast, technical descent, followed by a second kicker to the line where gradients punch up to 19 per cent in the final 300 metres. Pure TT specialists will find nothing to anchor them here. This stage belongs to the climbers who can hold aero shape on a ramp.
For the third consecutive year, race organisers have opted to open the Txapela battle with an uphill test rather than a traditional rolling prologue, and the decision continues to shape the entire complexion of the GC. Time gaps of 30 seconds or more are realistic across the top 15, meaning the overall could effectively be decided on day one before the peloton even touches the brutal Basque hinterland further into the week.
Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) arrives as the historical benchmark in Itzulia time trials. The Slovenian has never lost an individual time trial at this race, winning all five he has contested since 2017, and the uphill finale should play perfectly into his aero-climbing hybrid strengths. At 36, Roglic is still the best closer against the clock in the Basque Country, and a stage-one victory here would be the ideal statement ride after a quiet spring campaign.
The most intriguing challenger is Paul Seixas, the 19-year-old Frenchman whose breakout time trial at the Volta ao Algarve earlier this year shocked observers and earned him firm mention in Grand Tour contender conversations. Seixas has the raw power for the opening drag and the explosive finishing kick for the 19 per cent wall, and his confidence is rising with every race. A podium here — let alone a stage win — would confirm his rapid ascent through the WorldTour hierarchy.
Juan Ayuso makes his first Itzulia appearance as a Lidl-Trek leader following his winter move away from UAE Team Emirates, and having returned from a Paris-Nice crash earlier than expected. Ayuso is widely regarded as the most natural fit for the uphill finale of any rider on the startlist — his combination of explosive climbing and punchy power output is tailor-made for the Bilbao parcours. Question marks over his fitness remain, but if anywhere near his best, he is the man to beat.
Behind the headline trio, American national time-trial champion Brandon McNulty has long been one of the most reliable engines in the bunch against the clock, and teammate Isaac del Toro will be eyeing the stage as the launchpad for a third WorldTour stage race victory of 2026. Del Toro has already won Tirreno-Adriatico and the UAE Tour this spring, and consistently proved he can hang with the best against the clock when the road tips upward. Mattias Skjelmose, Antonio Tiberi and Enric Mas complete a deep GC field.
Neither Tadej Pogacar nor Jonas Vingegaard will be on the start line this year, both having prioritised their respective spring Classics and Grand Tour build-ups. Their absence is the door through which the next generation will sprint: this is the race where Seixas, Del Toro and Ayuso can stake their claim as Grand Tour contenders ahead of the summer.
Stage 1 rolls off the ramp in Bilbao at 14:20 local time on Monday, with the final GC implications potentially decisive. For riders who lose time on day one, the rest of the week becomes a 900-kilometre chase through 16,000 metres of climbing — a penance no contender wants to pay.