With neither Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Remco Evenepoel (Soudal – Quick-Step) or Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) present, Itzulia Basque Country provided a golden opportunity for a host of other GC contenders to win a WorldTour stage race.
The parcours looked unpredictable, too, with no time trial or mountain top finish, and a lot of climbing spaced out over the whole week, but no obvious stage where the GC would be decided. An open race was expected, with multiple riders all in with a shot of overall victory.
VINGEGAARD LAYS DOWN A MARKER WITH DOMINANT RIDE
Despite that expectation, this was ultimately even more one-sided than the races involving the aforementioned trio, only with Jonas Vingegaard playing the role of the all-conquering victory. The Jumbo-Visma rider was untouchable from start to finish, winning half of the six stages on offer, and winning by a comfortable margin of 1:12 — the largest of any WorldTour stage race so far this season, and of any Itzulia Basque Country edition since 2002.
Despite being reigning Tour de France champion, Vingegaard doesn’t yet have the same reputation as Pogačar, Evenepoel and Roglic for being a prolific winner; in the last two seasons he has built his form steadily in the early season stage races, and not reaching his peak until the Tour de France. But this year, following his similarly dominant performance at O Gran Camiño, we’re seeing a new Vingegaard, one who has already won six races and two GC titles.
Whereas in past single-week stage races (including Paris-Nice last month, where he finished third behind Pogačar and David Gaudu) Vingegaard has looked vulnerable, here he exuded authority. He had already ridden proactively on the opening day by sprinting successfully for bonus seconds at intermediate sprints, before seizing control of the race by winning the steep uphill sprint in Amasa-Villabona at the end of stage three, and tightened his grip further the following day by riding away with Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) and again winning the stage in a two-up sprint.
Then on the final stage, rather than simply defend his lead, he attacked from long-range. He had typically strong support with his Jumbo-Visma teammates, with Attila Valter and Steven Kruijswijk getting into the day’s break, but didn’t even need to use them,…