A selection of the world's best climbers and stage-race riders will renew their rivalry at the six-day Tour of the Basque Country (April 7-12).
Stage 4: Thursday, April 10 - Vitoria-Gasteiz to Arrate (Eibar) - 151km | Report
Result/b>
1 Wout Poels (Ned) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar, +1sec
3 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC, same time
4 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Garmin-Sharp, +3
5 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin, st
6 Yuri Trofimov (Rus) Katusha, st
7 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC, st
8 Mikel Landa (Spa) Astana, st
9 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Merida, st
10 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo, st
General classification
1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo, 7:51:54
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar, +12secs
3 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Merida, +36
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC, same time
5 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale, st
6 Yuri Trofimov (Rus) Katusha, st
7 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, +41
8 Mikel Landa (Spa) Astana, +54
9 Wout Poels (Ned) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step, +55
10 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC, +56
Stage 5: Friday, April 11 - Eibar to Markina-Xemein - 160.2km
Day five follows a saw-tooth profile containing five categorised climbs, the last four of which are crammed into a bruising final 53km. After two category-three ascents have softened up the legs, the category-one Alto de Izua is sure to break up the peloton ahead of a breakneck descent back down to the foot of the final climb, the category-two Alt de Aiastia. Punchier climbers will look to escape on the upper slopes and then maintain their lead on the 8.4km to the finish line.
Stage 6: Saturday, April 12 - Markina-Xemein to Markina-Xemein - 25.9km individual time trial
The race will end with - and potentially be decided by -a rolling time trial. The route contains two climbs and although both are uncategorised, they are both sizeable enough to take the advantage away from pure time-triallists and hand the onus to those who can climb as well. Whoever prevails, this will be a vital day in the general classification.
The favourites
Tirreno-Adriatico winner
Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Ruta del Sol winner
Alejandro Valverde (Movisar) are likely to be leading contenders given that the
parcours suits their styles and that both are in excellent form. Paris-Nice winner
Carlos Betancur (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and world champion
Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) could also figure prominently, while
Cadel Evans (BMC) will be keen to show he is back in form one month out from his bid for glory at the Giro d'Italia.
Brit watch
Josh Edmondson (Team Sky)
Peter Kennaugh (Team Sky)
Ben Swift (Team Sky)
Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge)
Simon Yates (Orica-GreenEdge)
The jerseys
Key stage
Stage six. Although stage four is the race's only summit finish and will shake up the general classification, stage six's individual time trial is long enough to create even bigger gaps between the contenders for overall victory.
Past winners
2013: Nairo Quintana (Col)
2012: Samuel Sanchez (Spa)
2011: Andreas Kloden (Ger)
2010: Chris Horner (USA)
2009: Alberto Contador (Spa)
2008: Alberto Contador (Spa)
2007: Juan Jose Cobo (Spa)
2005: Danilo Di Luca (Ita)
2000: Andreas Kloden (Ger)
Teams and riders
WorldTour
Ag2r-La Mondiale: Carlos Betancur (Col), Hubert Dupont (Fra), Ben Gastauer (Matteo Montaguti (Ita), Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita), Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra), Christophe Riblon (Fra), Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra).
Astana: Mikel Landa (Spa), Alexandr Dyachenko (Kaz), Enrico Gasparotto (Ita), Janez Brajkovic (Slo), Alesandro Vanotti (Ita), Maxim iglinskiy (Kaz), Tanel Kangert (Est), Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe).
Belkin: Bauke Mollema (Ned), Stef Clement (Ned), Robert Gesink (Ned), Jonathan Hivert (Fra), Paul Martens (Ger), Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor), David Tanner (Aus), Jack Bobridge (Aus).
BMC: Cadel Evans (Aus), Philippe Gilbert (Bel), Samuel Sanchez (Spa), Darwin Atapuma (Col), Amael Moinard (Fra), Dominik Nerz (Ger), Tejay van Garderen (USA), Peter Velits (Svk).
Cannondale: Davide Villella (Ita), Damiano Caruso (Ita), Alberto Bettiol (Ita), Michel Koch (Ger), Jean-Marc Marino (Fra), Daniele Ratto (Ita), Jose Sarmiento (Col), Cristiano Salerno (Ita).
Europcar: Yukiya Arashiro (Jap), Natnael Berhane (Eri), Cyril Gautier (Fra), Pierre Rolland (Fra), Davide Malacarne (Ita), Maxime Mederel (Fra), Romain Sicard (Fra), Kevin Reza (Fra).
FDJ: Thibaut Pinot (Fra), Arthur Vichot (Fra), Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra), Arnaud Courteille (Fra), Kenny Elissonde (Fra), Geoffrey Soupe (Fra), Benoit Vaugrenard (Fra), Jussi Veikkanen (Fin).
Garmin-Sharp: Ryder Hesjedal (Can), Janier Acevedo (Col), Andre Cardoso (Por), Tom Danielson (USA), Caleb Fairly (USA), Koldo Fernandez (Spa), Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned), Fabian Wegmann (Ger).
Giant-Shimano: Warren Barguil (Fra), Tom Dumoulin (Ned), Thomas Damuseau (Fra), Johannes Frohlinger (Ger), Simon Geschke (Ger), Daan Olivier (Ned), Tom Peterson (USA), Georg Preidler (Aut).
Katusha: Simon Spilak (Slo), Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus), Pavel Brutt (Rus), Sergei Chernetckii (Rus), Petr Ignatenko (Rus), Dmitry Kozontchuk (Rus), Egor Silin (Rus), Yuri Trofimov (Rus).
Lampre-Merida: Rui Costa (Por), Damiano Cunego (Ita), Jose Serpa (Col), Kristijan Durasek (Cro), Jan Polanc (Slo), Nelson Oliveira (Por), Gang Xu (Chi).
Lotto-Belisol: Jurgen van den Broeck (Bel), Maxime Monfort (Bel), Sander Armee (Bel), Bart de Clerq (Bel), Tosh van der Sande (Bel), Dennis Vanendert (Bel), Jelle Vanendert (Bel), Tim Wellens (Bel).
Movistar: Jesus Herrada (Spa), Benat Intxausti (Spa), Gorka Izagirre (Spa), Ion Izagirre (Spa), Javier Moreno (Spa), Ruben Plaza (Spa), Jose Joaquin Rojas (Spa), Alejandro Valverde (Spa).
Omega Pharma - Quick-Step: Tony Martin (Ger), Jan Bakelants (Bel), Michal Golas (Pol), Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol), Wout Poels (Ned), Pieter Serry (Bel), Julien Vermote (Bel), Carlos Verona (Spa).
Orica-GreenEdge: Michael Albasini (Swi), Simon Gerrans (Aus), Esteban Chaves (Col), Michael Matthews (Aus), Christian Meier (Can), Pieter Weening (Ned), Adam Yates (GB), Simon Yates (GB).
Team Sky: Mikel Nieve (Spa), Sebastian Henao (Col), Josh Edmondson (GB), Peter Kennaugh (GB), Vasil Kiryienka (Blr), Danny Pate (USA), Ben Swift (GB), Xabier Zandio (Spa).
Tinkoff-Saxo: Alberto Contador (Spa), Roman Kreuziger (Cze), Bruno Pires (Por), Jesper Hansen (Den), Jesus Hernandez (Spa), Michael Morkov (Den), Rory Sutherland (Aus), Sergio Paulinho (Por).
Trek: Andy Schleck (Lux), Frank Schleck (Lux), Haimar Zubeldia (Spa), Robert Kiserlovski (Cro), Matthew Busche (USA), Laurent Didier (Lux), Jens Voigt (Ger), Bob Jungels (Lux).
Pro Continental
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA: Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa), Amets Txurruka (Spa), David Arroyo (Spa), Pello Bilbao (Spa), Fabricio Ferrar (Uru), Omar Fraile (Spa), Angel Madrazo (Spa), Antonio Piedra (Spa).
