The official route for the Itzulia Women 2022 was presented today 25 April. The 1st edition of the race will include 3 stages starting in Vitoria-Gasteiz and finishing in Donostia-San Sebastián.
The first Itzulia Women will take place from 13 to 15 May and will cover 363.60 km. The route will cross Alava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, in that order, and finish along the route of the Clásica San Sebastián.
The race includes 13 scoring mountain passes: nine Cat. 3, three Cat. 2 and one Cat. 1. As for intermediate sprints, there will be 6 in total; two in each stage.
Roberto Laiseka, Technical Director of the Itzulia Women analyses each stage:
- Vitoria-Gasteiz – Labastida / 105.90 km
This stage includes a demanding start and a Cat. 3 mountain pass, where a breakaway could form. The route follows good roads to Labastida at approx. km 45, but thereafter commences a more demanding section, with two consecutive mountain passes. From km 67 onwards, the route starts to descend, and the last 15 km involve continuous uphill and downhill climbs.
- Mallabia – Mallabia / 117.90 km
This stage includes typical Biscayan orography with continuous uphill and downhill sections, including five Cat. 3 passes and one Cat. 2 pass.
It will be a difficult stage for the leaders of the different teams to take control of the race as there are no demanding climbs to break the peloton. The stage will end with a slightly uphill finish.
- Donostia-San Sebastián – Donostia-San Sebastián / 139.80 km
This stage follows the same route as the last 2 years, the same route as the Donostiako Klasikoa Women’s race.
This is the longest stage of Itzulia Women 2022, where the Jaizkibel pass will define the tactics of each of the teams wishing to harm the virtual leader of the race, and the Murgil “wall” will be the ultimate judge of the stage and possibly of the final winner of the Itzulia Women 2022.
