The day after the event is held, cycling fans and fans will be able to ride the queen stage of the race just like the professional teams and there will be specific services to celebrate the march.
The Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and the Itzulia Basque Challenge cycling race have presented the first World Tour cycling event of the Itzulia Basque Challenge. After the cycling event, fans of cycling will have the opportunity to feel like the rest of the participants in the professional race touring the queen stage of Itzulia taking advantage of the same infrastructures as the professionals one day after the official event.
This cycling tour offers two different routes depending on the level of difficulty. On the one hand, the “World Tour” route consists of 137.8 kilometers and 3,600 meters of accumulated unevenness, while the “Half-distance” option is 80.6 kilometers and 2,100 meters of accumulated unevenness. In both cases, the start and finish lines are located in Eibar and will be held on the same April 9.
Registration includes accreditation to access the start and finish area of the last stage of Itzulia 2023, with the possibility of seeing how the race works from the inside. The jersey, also included with the registration, has been designed and produced by the Gobik brand, the official brand of the professional event. In addition, different services will be made available such as an area with showers, professional motorcycle links, a meal after the tour, private parking for vehicles and bicycles, mechanical service and medical assistance, among others. Registration is now open and can be done through the website www.itzuliabasquechallenge.com and the price is 90 euros for both routes.
Tourist attraction
This type of event is a great attraction for fans of cycling, which is why, together with the Gipuzkoa company Equinoccio Viajes, a tourist package has been prepared that includes the bib number and accommodation. In this way, “we activate the most touristy part of this event and we are gaining notoriety for future editions, with the aim of turning this event into a benchmark like other cycling tours with a large influx of visitors, such as, for example, Liège-Bastogne-Liège or Paris-Roubaix”, explained the director of Tourism of the Diputación Iker Goiria.
In turn, the director stressed that “we live in a territory that is passionate about cycling, and proof of this is the great fans that exist both among the local people and among the visitors we receive annually who are interested in cycling. For this reason, we are fully agreed and convinced that this initiative carried out in collaboration with the Itzulia organization is a lovely idea and that it is here to stay”. In addition, he added that “the values represented by sport and its respect for nature, with a sustainable tourism model and new forms of mobility, are fully aligned with the tourism model that we have been working on from the Provincial Council. All this, for greater value, within the territory, another of our strategic lines”. Lastly, he pointed out that “by entering the circuit of this type of sporting event we are gaining ground in positioning Gipuzkoa as a cycling territory, a type of tourism on the rise in recent years”.
For his part, Julián Eraso, president of the Euskadi Cycling Organizations, wanted to underline that “the objective of this project is to promote the territory and tourism through cycling. Gipuzkoa and the Basque Country are synonymous with cycling. One of the best hobbies, and world-class races that raise passions. It is time to exploit our cycling culture and make it possible for the fans to experience it as the professionals do.”
