Itzulia Basque Country 2025 Stage 1

April 7, 2025 The Itzulia Basque Country is one of the hilliest week-long stage races on the calendar but it starts on Stage 1 with a flat Individual Time Trial, one for the specialists. The riders set off from inside the Fernando Buesa Arena on the basketball court in Vitoria-Gasteiz for a 16.5KM loop that finishes with a tight left less than 100M before the line. Some riders had difficulty on the course, particularly with the final left corner. Maxim Van Gils of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe locked up his rear wheel going into the corner but was fortunate to keep it upright and rode into the deviation. He got turned around and finished but the error would have cost at least 15 seconds. Max Schachmann of Soudal Quickstep nailed the course and set a very fast early time, sitting in the hot seat for hour after hour. The likes of Victor Campenaerts of Visma-Lease a Bike, Brandon McNulty of UAE-XRG, and Nelson Oliveira of Movistar came and went, none could match the German's time. João Almeida of UAE-XRG was the closest, coming in just half of a second down with Florian Lipowitz of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe within 1 second as well.