While most attention is focused on the cobbles of Northern Europe and strong men like Tom Boonen, Fabian Cancellara and Peter Sagan, some of the world's most formidable climbers and leading stage race riders prepare for 6 days of intense racing on the steep climbs in the cycling-mad Basque Country. Starting on Monday, the Tour of the Basque Country is the perfect preparation for the upcoming Ardennes classics and a highly prestigious WorldTour stage race in its own right.

The Tour of the Basque Country serves a dual purpose on the cycling calendar. On the one hand, the race has a history of laying the foundations for dominant performances by some of the strongest one-day riders in the later Ardennes classics. On the other hand, the race's rich history and difficult nature makes it an obvious early-season target for the world's leading GC riders.

Once again, the start list reflects this dual nature of the race. While riders like Philippe Gilbert, Damiano Cunego, Jelle Vanendert, Simon Gerrans and Michael Albasini have travelled to Spain with the sole purpose of sharpening their climbing legs ahead of their most important one-day objectives, Alberto Contador and Richie Porte head a list of riders on the hunt for results. While the number of riders in the former category of riders seem to dwindle these years, the introduction of points for the ProTeam licenses have only increased the importance of the event as a hunting ground.

The race takes place in one of the most unique European cycling areas. The Basque fans are renowned for their passion, and their own regional cycling team Euskaltel has always been a source of immense pride. It is only befitting for cycling's status that the area hosts both a WorldTour stage race and a major classic, the Clasica San Sebastian and even though both races have struggled in the current economic climate, their importance for the regional sports scene has managed them to survive.

The race is usually one of the hardest of the week-long stage races. With almost no flat roads in the region, sprinters have limited opportunities, and it is no surprise that the fast men have always kept their focus firmly on the Northern classics. Instead, the race is littered with multiple (sometimes extremely) steep climbs of medium length, and it is the hard slopes, the concluding technical, hilly time trial and the torrential rain that usually determine the overall GC. Even though the race does not enter the high mountains and tackle the long climbs, the race is surely one for the strongest stage race riders.

Last year's edition was dear to the hearts of the local population since Euskaltel finally succeeded in their big objective of winning their home race. In a race plagued by extremely wet conditions, team captain Samuel Sanchez came out on top in a tight duel with Joaquin Rodriguez after stamping his authority on the race in the technical final time trial where the Basque leader used his formidable technical and descending abilities to take a very rare victory in the race against the clock. Sanchez will be back to repeat this year, but with the Giro his major target, he admits that he is not at last year's level this time around.

The course

This year's course follows its traditional pattern with 5 road stages all littered with climbs, two decisive stages with hard finishes of which one as always ends up on the Arrate climb, and a final technical, hilly time trial on Saturday. Overall victory requires explosiveness to tackle the numerous, steep climbs, strong technical skills and formidable abilities in the final race against the clock.

The first stage takes place on a 156,5km route around the city of Elgoibar. With 5 categorized climbs (1 of the 1st category, 2 of the second and 2 of the 3rd) inside the final two-thirds of the stage, it is a hilly affair. After tackling two very steep climbs midway through the stage, it is a mostly flat run-in to the final 2nd category climb, the Alto de Aiastia (4,8km, 5,42%), whose summit will be crested with 7,2km remaining. The climb is very regular without any really steep parts, and it will be difficult to use it as a major attacking ground. After the top, it is a fast downhill run all the way to a short, ascending finishing straight. The stage is perfectly suited to strong sprinters like an in-form Daniele Ratto, but with a lack of sprinters in the race and no established GC in place, a breakaway may profit from a lack of clear leadership to hold off the peloton all the way to the line.

Stage 2 should be the easiest in the race, and the attending fast men will make sure to exploit this opportunity maximally. After a difficult start with two steep 2nd category climbs, the peloton ends up on the famous plateau with the city of Vitoria. The riders stay here for the remainder of the 170,2km stage, and the flat roads are only interrupted by three short 3rd category climbs. The last one, the Alto de Zaldiaran (2,9km, 4.14%) is located with just 9,2km remaining, but keeping with tradition the stage finishing in Vitoria should end up in a mass sprint.

Stage 3 is the first of the race's two decisive road stages and returns the summit finish in Trapagaran last used in 2005. After an easy start where the peloton descends from yesterday's plateau, the climbing gets serious inside the final 40km of the 164,7km stage. After tackling the climbs of Alto de la Reineta (6,1km, 6,15%) and Alto de Cobaron (1,2km, 6,7%), the final category 2 climb Alto de la Lejana  (7,4km, 5,74%) will be the site of the first selection among the overall contenders. The climb is highly irregular and even interrupted by a small descent and a km of almost completely flat roads, and the difference will probably only be made in the last 400 meters. With an average gradient of 21%, this final stretch is, however, the perfect stomping ground for explosive, punchy climbers, and there is little doubt that gaps will open up on this short, very difficult stretch.

Stage 4 is the race's traditional queen stage finishing on the Alto de Arrate. The finish was the key ingredient in the queen stage of the Euskal Bizikleta stage race, but with the demise of this race after the 2008 edition, an agreement was made with the organizers of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco to make the finish a permanent fixture in the WorldTour race. Except for the premiere edition in 2009, the stage has been the perfect stomping ground for Samuel Sanchez who has won on the remaining three occasions, and the wily Spaniard will hope to make it four in a row this year. After a flat opening, the riders have to turn on their climbing legs and with 5 climbs (3 in the 2nd category and 2 in the 1st) inside the final 100km, the stage is the perfect place to put rivals under pressure. The final Alto de Usartza climb (7,3km, 6,71%) will be crested with just 2km of fast downhill remaining, and as always the winner will be the one to first enter the final corner just a few hundred meters before the finish line.

Stage 5 could turn out to be a repeat of the now infamous penultimate stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico. Completely underrated by the riders, the stage to Porto Sant'Elpidio in the Italian stage race turned out to be an epic affair and the race's most decisive day. The 165,5km stage to Beasain has the potential to deliver a similar surprise, and Samuel Sanchez has issued a warning not to underestimate the challenges on the penultimate day of racing. With 10 categorized climbs, it is a day of constant ups and downs, and there will be no flat roads which can be used for recovery. The main feature on the course is the short, extremely steep Alto de Olaberria climb (1,4km, 12,14%) which will be tackled three times inside the final 83km of the stage. With the last passage situated just 5,8km from the finish line, the climb can certainly be used to build up a decisive advantage and the stage will only be further complicated if the usual Basque rain decides to join the festivities.

The race ends with a 24km time trial around the city of Beasain. As it is always the case in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, it is not your usual specialist time trial. On the contrary, it is a hard affair with plenty of climbing, difficult descents and a number of technical challenges. Along the way, the riders will once again have to tackle the steep slopes of the Alto de Olaberria, and it will not be a surprise to see riders avoid their usual time trial equipment. With the climbs in the Basque Country only being of medium length, the differences are often rather small before the time trial, and the race against the clock is usually the single most important stage for the final overall classification.

The weather

While riders have been unpleasantly surprised to face cold and wet conditions in their traditionally sunny spring races, there will be no unexpected nastinesses in the Basque Country. Riders know what the Basque climate has to offer and have to prepared for six days of racing in wet conditions.

This year seems to be no different with rain forecasted for all six days. Furthermore, the race should take place in the cold with temperatures below the 5 degrees mark towards the end of the week. Such conditions will only make the race harder and increase the importance of technical skills on the numerous treacherous descents, and we may be facing another epic day of racing on the penultimate stage and plenty of abandonments ahead of the final race against the clock.

The favourites

Organizers have had the unpleasant experience to see Spain's two leading Ardennes contenders Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) both opt out of the race in their preparations for their one-day objectives. While Valverde's absence is not unexpected with the Spaniard limiting his racing days ahead of the Tour de France (he also failed to attend last year), it is very uncommon for Rodriguez to not line up in the Basque Country. The steep slopes on the third and fifth stages are perfectly suited to the punchy Spaniard, and if he had to make up his perfect time trial, it would probably be very close to the one found on the last day of racing.

Despite the missing Spaniard, organizers are able to present a line-up of formidable stage race specialists all gunning for victory. For the third time this year, the race shapes up to be a Contador-Sky battle, but this time the Saxo-Tinkoff captain will not have to face his expected main Tour rival, Chris Froome. The British team will once again support their third weapon, Richie Porte, whose performances in the Paris-Nice and the Criterium International have marked him out as one of the world's strongest riders in shorter stage races right now.

Despite Porte's current strength, Contador enters the race as the favourite. The Spaniard had marked out the Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour of The Basque Country as his major early-season objectives, and after his failed attempt to add the Italian stage race to his palmares, he hopes to take his third victory in the Basque race in his first participation since his 2009 triumph.

Due to a bout of flu, the most decorated grand tour rider among the current professionals had to forfeit his Criterium International participation and while this adds a degree of uncertainty to his condition, his pure strength on a course like this marks him out as the main contender. The course suits the Spaniard well, he thrives on steep climbs and the final time trial is perfectly suited to his characteristics. However, the Spaniard has not reached his former level after his suspension, and his post-comeback attacks have just been a shadow of the all-destroying accelerations he used to put in during his dominant years. Furthermore, he lacks his usual strength in the time trial, and it will be a worrying sign in the Saxo-Tinkoff camp if Contador once again fails to put his rivals under pressure in the mountains and deliver a convincing performance in the race against the clock.

Richie Porte (Sky) has had his breakthrough as a stage racer this year. After making drastic improvements as a domestique in his first year at the British team, this season has seen him step up as a leader and genuine GC contender in his Paris-Nice victory and his 2nd place in the Team Sky show at the Criterium International. The race in the Basque Country may be his final chance to race as a captain before he slots into his usual domestique role in the Tour de Romandie, the Dauphine Libere and the Tour de France, and there is no doubt that he is gunning for victory.

With Porte's credentials as a time triallist, Contador is under considerable pressure to distance his rival in the road stages as he cannot expect to demolish his competitor in the final time trial. On the contrary, the two challengers should be fairly even in the final hard, technical race against the clock. Porte may very well struggle a bit to follow Contador on the steep slopes towards the end of the 3rd stage but with only 400m to make a difference, the time loss will be minimal. On the other hand, the Australian has been climbing extremely well this year, and the way he accelerated off the front in the Criterium International (and made up time on teammate Froome) is just another testament to his strength. All indications are that we should be in for a very tight battle in the final time trial.

Keeping in mind the crucial role of the time trial, the world champion in the discipline, Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), has a solid chance to upset the two-way battle. The German never managed to find his 2011 level in his first year at the Belgian team, but indications are that he is back to his best in 2013. His first two time trial appearances have seen a demolished opposition licking their wounds and even though the time trial in the Basque Country will not be to his liking, he should be able to make it three in a row on Saturday.

The main challenge for Martin will be to remain in contention during the first five days of racing. However, the German manages short and medium-length climbs rather well, and he was one of the strongest on the ascents in his 2011 Paris-Nice victory. In last year's Basque race, he only lost 12 seconds to the likes of Sanchez and Rodriguez in the difficult Arrate stage and with his stronger condition, he could even be going better this year. His undoing could be the steep slopes in stage 3 and 5 which are not perfectly suited to the powerful German.

Veteran Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r-La Mondiale) started his road career rather late and as a consequence he is a late blossomer. This year he has stepped up a level and has produced formidable results in his previous stage race outings. He started the year with a win on the Mont Faron in the Tour Mediteraneen and was 3rd overall in the Paris-Nice. Just a week ago, he climbed with the best in the Criterium International on his way to an overall 5th place finish. His main strength remains, however, the time trail, and the former mountain bike rider will find the route in the Basque Country to his liking. The steep climbs, technical descents and the final ride against the clock turns the Vuelta al Pais Vasco into the perfect stage race for the French veteran who is a very likely podium contender.

Blanco have complete faith in Bauke Mollema, and their confidence is well-founded.  The Dutchman has been going strong all year and was 4th overall in last week's Criterium International. With top 10 results in all three Ardennes classics last year, the Blanco rider discovered his strength in the hilly one-day races, and his main spring target is an improvement of last year's performances in those challenges. The Vuelta al Pais Vasco is his final preparation race, but as a talented stage racer he has his eyes on a high overall result. He may struggle a bit on the longest climbs, but the short, explosive ascents in the Basque Country are perfect suited to his characteristics. He may not be the strongest time triallist, but he does not perform badly on hilly routes, and his second place behind Sanchez in last year's race against the clock laid the foundations for his final 3rd place in the race. He hopes to use a similar performance as a springboard for Ardennes success.

The biggest question marks surround defending champion Samuel Sanchez. The Spaniard is under immense pressure to defend his title, and the course with its steep hills and a technical, rainy time trial suits him down to the ground. However, his Giro focus has made it impossible to enter the race in his usual April peak of form, and the race now serves as an important preparation event more than a major target. Furthermore, he is not the strongest time triallist, and his previous struggles to win his own race have been testament to his inability to compete with the best in the discipline. Keeping the strong competition in mind, it will be a surprise if the Euskaltel captain repeats last year's victory, but one should never underestimate the Spaniard in his home race.

Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) enters a period without major targets after his early-season objectives in the Paris-Nice and Criterium International. His focus is now firmly on the Tour of California, and he will not attach much importance to his Pais Vasco results. Furthermore, he will probably lose time in the mountains, but if he enters the final time trial without being distanced too much, he will be a danger man. He was among the strongest in last week's Criterium International, and even though he now faces an easier period before his California build-up, his strong run of form cannot have vanished completely.

Simon Spilak (Katusha) has been flying all season. He landed a strong top 10 result in the Paris-Nice where he shared captaincy duties with Denis Menchov before he went onto  be the key domestique for Joaquin Rodriguez in Catalunya. Yesterday, he proved that his early-season form is not on the wane when he held off the collective might of the Euskaltel and Movistar teams to take an impressive solo victory in the GP Miguel Indurain. In the Basque Country, he will once again share the leadership role with Menchov, but while the veteran Russian seems to be struggling a little after a very strong start to the season, his young Slovenian teammate is stronger than ever. He is not the best time triallist, but in a hilly race against the clock he is able to defend himself. His breakthrough victory in the 2010 Tour de Romandie was founded on a solid time trial and as part of an incredibly strong team, Spilak should pose a threat to the major favourites.

Finally, Movistar enter a versatile squad with a number of different options. Nairo Quintana was a late inclusion on the start list, and he will make his presence felt in the mountain stages. Like fellow Colombian Sergio Henao (Sky) he will, however, be forced out of contention for the overall win due to his limited time trial abilities.

On the contrary, the duo of Rui Costa and Benat Intxausti have the capabilities to be competitive on a course like the one in the Basque Country, and history proves that they are major threats in any weeklong stage race with a difficult time trial. Costa won the Tour de Suisse and was 3rd in the Tour de Romandie last year while Intxausti ended up 2nd and 4th in the 2010 and 2011 editions of Pais Vasco. However, Costa has been absent from competition since a crash forced his early abandonment from the Paris-Nice while Intxausti failed to make an impression in the Tirreno-Adriatico due to illness, and their current levels of form are shrouded in uncertainty. Indications from both riders are optimistic, and they both put in solid showings in the GP Miguel Indurain in support of Alejandro Valverde. They spearhead a really strong, ambitious Spanish team on home soil, and it would be no surprise to see the duo battle for the final podium places.

***** Alberto Contador

**** Richie Porte, Tony Martin

*** Jean-Christophe Peraud, Bauke Mollema, Samuel Sanchez, Tejay Van Garderen, Rui Costa,  Simon Spilak

** Benat Intxausti, Diego Ulissi, Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Tom Danielson, Andrew Talansky, Nairo Quintana

* Sergio Henao, Andreas Klöden, Denis Menchov, Roman Kreuziger, Thibaut Pinot, Peter Stetina, Wouter Poels, Igor Anton, Juan Jose Cobo, Jakob Fuglsang

Stage winner suggestions

Stage 1: Daniele Ratto, Simon Gerrans, Philippe Gilbert, Pim Ligthart, Paul Martens, Simon Geschke

Stage 2: Daniele Ratto, Simon Gerrans, Philippe Gilbert, Francesco Gavazzi, Simon Geschke, Pim Ligthart

Stage 3: Nairo Quintana, Alberto Contador, Sergio Henao, Igor Anton, Samuel Sanchez

Stage 4: Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana, Richie Porte, Samuel Sanchez, Bauke Mollema, Diego Ulissi

Stage 5: Samuel Sanchez, Bauke Mollema, Diego Ulissi, Rui Costa, Alberto Contador, Nairo Quintana

Stage 6: Tony Martin, Richie Porte, Alberto Contador, Tejay Van Garderen, Andrew Talansky, Jean-Christophe Peraud

Stage profiles

Stage 1: Elgoibar-Elgoibar, 156,5km

Stage 2: Elgoibar-Vitoria (Gasteiz), 170,2km

Stage 3: Vitoria (Gasteiz)-Trapagaran, 164,7km

Stage 4: Trapagaran-Eibar (Arrate), 151,6km

Stage 5: Eibar-Beasain, 165,5km

Stage 6: Beasain-Beasain, 24km ITT