Itzulia Women's 2023 Favourites

Country: Basque Region
Stages: 3
Stage types: Medium Mountain

Hot on the heels of a tremendously exciting inaugural La Vuelta Femenina comes the Itzulia Women's 2023 tour. Featuring similar terrain to the men's multi day event that took place earlier in the year, we expect SD Worx to learn from their mistakes of La Vuelta and take the crown with Vollering. However, let's do a breakdown of the stages and potential favourites.

Value Picks

Unfortunately none of the top three - Van Vlueten, Vollering or Realini will most likely be value anymore, so we'll have to scour for picks. We'll update this post when they drop. Realini might not be coming given the current startlist so keep your eyes on Katarzyna Niewiadoma instead.

Stage 1

Two categorized climbs: 2.7km - 6.4%, and 4.9km - 6.1%. The final climb is 7km from the finish and could be enough for a break that forms on the climb to survive to the finish

Stage 2

Relatively simple day. Expect a bunch sprint. There's a kicker of 500m @ 8% 5k from the finish but we expect Vos and Dygert to be able to make it to finish and win.

Stage 3

Two hard climbs make up this stage. One of 7.3km - 6% average and the other 4km at 8%. The first climb is too early in the stage to cause issues, while the second, 30ish kms from the finish could prove to be a defining general classification marker if a team can hold it (we're thinking SD Worx).