With the Tour de France done and dusted, the attention turns to the classics where Saturday’s Clasica San Sebastien opens the series of big one-day races in the second half of the year. Some of the riders for the Basque race have a chance to fine-tune their condition in the traditional warm-up race Prueba Villafranca-Ordiziako Klasika whose hilly course serves as the perfect testing ground for riders looking for some racing ahead of the biggest one-day race in Spain.

 

Spain has always been a country for stage racing and one-day racing has never got much attention on the Iberian Peninsula. That has left riders like Oscar Freire and Juan Antonio Flecha frustrated. Both were among the best classics riders in the world but their achievement failed to get the deserved recognition in their home country.

 

One region bucks the trend slightly. The Basque Country has always been the most cycling-mad part of the country and they celebrate both stage races and classics. Every year they have two important blocks of races where they gather most of the cycling world for a week of top-level racing. In the spring, the Vuelta al Pais Vasco is the centerpiece of a block that also includes the one-day races GP Miguel Induarin and Klasika Primavera but in the block in the summer, the focus in on the classics.

 

The key event in the series is the WorldTour race Clasica San Sebastian but it is surrounded by two smaller races that offer a chance to warm up the race or get revenge. One day after the biggest race, Circuito Getxo is the final race in the triptych while Prueba Villafranca-Ordiziako Klasika kicks things off in the week leading up to the WorldTour classics.

 

Prueba Villafranca-Ordiziako Klasika has had a hard time finding the right spot on the calendar. It has been held during the Tour de France but that idea has been abandoned as it didn’t get much attention. It has been held on the Thursday before the Clasica but that was too close to the key event. This year it will take place on the Monday after the Tour de France and that seems to be a perfect spot. It doesn’t conflict with the Tour de France, it gives enough time to recover for the race in San Sebastian and it serves as perfect preparation at a time when many riders are in desperate need of racing kilometres as there aren’t many races in the month of July.

 

Clasica San Sebastian may be the big race but Klasika Ordizia is actually much older. It was first held in 1922 and is the oldest one-day race in Spain. It was opened to professional riders in 1925 and has only been canceled twice, both times during the Spanish Civil War. Since the current system was introduced in 2005, it has been a 1.1 race on the UCI calendar.

 

Unfortunately, it has suffered the same fate as most of the big Spanish races. The tough economic times have taken their toll on the Spanish calendar and many races have been canceled. The rich stage race scene in the spring has been reduced to barely nothing and the races that have survived have mostly been shortened.

 

Klasika Ordizia has survived but like many other smaller Spanish races, it is unable to afford a strong, international field. Many of the races in Spain have developed to a one-sided battle between Caja Rural and Movistar, with the rest of the field being made up of small continental teams. The situation is not that bad for the Basque race but it is no longer able to attract riders like it did when Laurent Jalabert, Abraham Olano, Joaquim Rodriguez and Marino Lejarreta won the race. This year Movistar is joined by Orica-BikeExchange to make up the list of WorldTour teams but there’s a solid group of pro continental teams as Caja Rural lines up alongside Androni, Delko, Funvic, ONE and Roth.

 

The race is held of a hilly course in the Basque country that has been largely unchanged since 2007. Last year Angel Madrazo, Ion Izagirre and Amets Txurruka arrived at the finish together and it was the former who beat the Movistar rider and his teammate in the sprint. Gorka Izagirre has won twice and Joaquim Rodriguez has also won on this course which shows that it’s a tough race in hard terrain.

 

The course

As said, the course hasn’t undergone many modifications in recent years but for the 2016 edition there is a small modification compared to the route that was used in 2014 and 2015 as it returns to the format that was used in 2013.

 

The 165.7km race starts and finishes in Ordizia and is a circuit race. First the riders do two three laps of a 31.4km circuit that has a flat start and then includes the main feature of the race, the Alto de Abaltzisketa (3km, 7.5%). From there, they descend to the finish.

 

The second part of the race consists of two laps of a modified 35.6km circuit. It is almost uchanged but just before they go up the main climb, the riders will tackle the Alto de Altzo (2.64km, 5.6%). The tops come with 20.7km and 10.6km to go respectively and from the final summit it is a downhill run to the final 2km which are flat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The favourites

As said, the course has been slightly changed compared to last year’s race but that won’t change the nature much. Klasika Ordizia is a race for climbers and Ardennes specialists who can make the difference on the final climb, use a fast sprint to beat what is usually a handful of riders or arrive solo. When this course was used in 2013, Daniel Teklehaimanot held Angel Madrazo off by 2 seconds while six riders arrived 8 seconds behind the winner. One year earlier Gorka Izagirre won a 10-rider sprint on the same course. In the last twp years, the riders have done the short, very steep Alto de Gaintza after the Abaltzisketa and this has made the race a bit more selective. Nonetheless, it should still be a race for the same kind of riders even though a fast sprint is more important on this slightly easier course.

 

On paper, the race shapes up to be a battle between Movistar, Caja Rural and Orica-BikeExchange. Caja Rural seem to have the strongest teams with numerous climbers and they probably want to make the race hard. The same goes for Movistar but they don’t have their best team for this race. They have several good climbers but they miss a fast finisher for a race like this. Orica-BikeExhange will back Simon Yates fully and they have a solid, albeit a small, team to support him.

 

If things go as they usually do in Spanish races, a big group will go clear early in the race and very often both Movistar and Caja Rural have riders there. However, Caja Rural have a clear interest in trying to control things and they are strong enough to do. Orica-BikeExchange also want it to be decided on the final climb so even though we should see attacks on the penultimate lap, we expect those two teams to make it an elimination race and make sure that things are back together for the final climb.

 

The best climbers will battle it out on the final ascent and then a small group will probably be formed. The open question is whether one rider will be strong enough to arrive solo or whether we will have a small group sprint. There will be a tailwind from the top of the climb so this should make things easier for an attacker. However, Caja Rural have a lot of good climbers so they are likely to have strength in numbers. They want a sprint from a small group with Pello Bilbao and so the most likely scenario is that we will see 3-10 riders battle it out in the end.

 

This means that Bilbao is our favourite. The Spaniard has stepped up his level a lot in 2016 and in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco he proved that he can mix it up at WorldTour level. He was the strongest rider in the Tour of Turkey and led the race until he fell ill on the queen stage. On paper, he is one of the best climbers here and he is ideally suited to a short, punchy climb like this.

 

Bilbao had a disappointing return to competition in Norway but he got better throughtout the race and since then he has only done the Spanish Championships. His form is uncertain but as we are approaching the most important time of his season, he should be good. With a few teammates to control things, he should be able to make sure that it comes down to a sprint from a small group and here it is very hard to imagine that he will be beaten. Hence, he is our favourite to win the race.

 

Simon Yates is probably the best climber in this race and he is ideally suited to a short climb like this. If anyone is going to arrive solo, it is probably Yates and he will also be one of the favourites in a sprint. However, he has been out of competition for a long time and he wasn’t really flying in the Tour de Pologne. On the other hand, that race was marred by bad weather so it is hard to base too many conclusions on that race. If he is close to his best, Yates could be able to get rid of Bilbao and then he will be hard to beat.

 

Defending champion Angel Madrazo is always good in this race which suits him well. However, he probably has to work for Bilbao and so may not get his chance. On the other hand, he will be ready to take over if the leader is not at 100% and then he is a good candidate. He is reasonably fast in a sprint and is strong on climbs like this. His form is unknown but he is always good at this time of the year.

 

Hugh Carthy is the best climber in the Caja Rural team but he can’t sprint. That makes it difficult for him to win the race and he will probably have to work for his teammates. On the other hand, it’s not impossible that he will be able to drop everybody else and ride to a solo win. Furthermore, the team may opt to go on the attack if they have strength in numbers and this could open the door for Carthy.

 

Movistar have lots of good climbers but none of them are as fast as Bilbao, Yates and Madrazo. Their best chance is to go on the attack with riders like Marc Soler, Javier Moreno, Andrey Amador and Jose Herrada. Their best card is probably Soler who is more relatively explosive and not that slow in a sprint. He was flying at the Route du Sud and if he has the same legs, he will be strong here.

 

Moreno is another great candidate. He likes short climbs like these and he is fast in a sprint. Amador is more of a diesel engine and is not suited to a short climb like this. On the other hand, he won’t be easy to bring back if he makes an attack in the finale and he is relatively fast in a sprint. He is preparing for the Olympics so his form should be good but it remains to be seen how he has recovered from the crash that took him out of the race in Poland. Herrada is the final card but he has to arrive solo to win the race.

 

David Belda and Rodolfo Torres are similar to Herrada as they have to make a solo attack. Belda has finally found some form and was really strong in Austria. Torres has not had his best year but if he can return to his 2015 level, he will be good.

 

Delio Fernandez is a good candidate if a bigger group arrives as he is fast. He is finally showing some form but we doubt that he can follow the best climbers. Amets Txurruka has often been good in this race but he probably has to work for Yates and he hasn’t been at his best in 2016. Finally, Garikoitz Bravo is suited to a race like this but we have been a bit disappointed with his performances in 2016.

 

***** Pello Bilbao

**** Simon Yates, Angel Madrazo

*** Hugh Carthy, Marc Soler, Javier Moreno, Andrey Amador

** Delio Fernandez, David Belda, Jose Herrada, Rodolfo Torres, Amets Txurruka, Garikoitz Bravo

* Daniel Diaz, Franco Pellizotti, Alex Diniz, Jonathan Castroviejo, Mikel Bizkarra, Damien Howson, Karol Domagalski, Aldemar Reyes, Robinson Chalapud, Heiner Parra