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Euskal Bizikleta - Discussion
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 08-03-2026 22:28
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Directeur Sportif
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 Euskal Bizikleta
Euskal Bizikleta drops back down to the C2 level this year, organizers have denied that the demotion was because an influential team manager thinks the race is cursed for his team. Instead, they have noted the race spent much of its history at the lower level and this is just a return to its roots.
The race first had a 3-year run from 2009 to 2011 but then dropped off the calendar until 2016, it has been on the schedule every year since. The last run at the C2 level was in 2021 when Marko Kump won. Kump is the kind of rider who has dominated the race of late with similar riders winning the last 3 editions - Hugo Houle (2022), Christopher Lagane (2023) and Xandro Meurisse (2024).
The race features two sprint stages followed by two punchy stages. Starting with the favorites for the last two stages, who usually take the GC, we have:
| Rider | MM | HI | SP | AC | RS | ST |  Sagan | 75 | 79 | 69 | 70 | 68 | 72 |  Turgis | 73 | 79 | 70 | 77 | 78 | 76 |  Eriksson | 73 | 79 | 65 | 76 | 74 | 78 |  Stocek | 73 | 78 | 70 | 75 | 70 | 75 |  Lagane | 74 | 78 | 76 | 77 | 71 | 70 |  Paez | 75 | 77 | 73 | 76 | 70 | 74 | | Gladysh | 74 | 77 | 71 | 76 | 72 | 73 | | Dieteren | 74 | 77 | 63 | 66 | 70 | 75 | | Serrano | 75 | 77 | 68 | 77 | 75 | 73 | | Lafay | 76 | 77 | 65 | 74 | 72 | 72 |  Kanepejs | 72 | 77 | 62 | 71 | 71 | 72 |  Vincent | 74 | 77 | 67 | 71 | 72 | 79 | | Mayer | 73 | 77 | 72 | 77 | 72 | 65 |  Montenegro | 74 | 77 | 64 | 74 | 73 | 71 | | Senyenov | 70 | 77 | 68 | 73 | 73 | 68 | | Dyrnes | 74 | 77 | 64 | 76 | 72 | 72 |
Lagane leaps out as a top contender with his finishing ability. If he can win he will be the first two time winner of the race. Turgis, Stocek, and Paez are also quick at the finish although not as strong as Lagane. Turgis is also probably the best all-round puncheur at the race wit strong secondaries.
A number of teams have a good one-two punch, Euskadi with Turgis and Serrano, Tafjord with Eriksson and Dyrnes, Ethiopian with Sagan and Gladysh, and Euskotren with Stocek and Lafay. Podium Ambition also bring a second strong option in Mayer. It wouldn’t be surprising to see these teams put two in the top 10 on GC.
There are also some other climbers who don’t quite fit the puncheur profile of those above.
| Rider | MM | HI | SP | AC | RS | ST | | Vendrame | 69 | 76 | 71 | 75 | 73 | 75 | | Berthet | 77 | 76 | 62 | 75 | 75 | 70 |  Masnada | 77 | 76 | 63 | 73 | 75 | 76 | | Gall | 77 | 76 | 61 | 72 | 71 | 70 |  Korosec | 72 | 75 | 75 | 78 | 71 | 74 | | Luchshenko | 70 | 75 | 75 | 75 | 72 | 77 |  Fabbro | 77 | 75 | 61 | 73 | 72 | 71 |  Grosser | 69 | 74 | 75 | 75 | 72 | 74 |  Olei | 70 | 74 | 75 | 75 | 71 | 73 |
Berthet, Fabbro Masnada, and Gall will look to thrive if the race is harder while the other riders on this list will be hoping the last two stages aren’t selective.
The race also has two stages for the sprinters and the tougher guys among this group might hope to hang on in the hilly stages as well.
Although 2 of the 4 stages are for the sprinters the race has attracted a fairly thin field.
| Rider | FL | HI | SP | AC | RS | ST | | Carsi | 69 | 54 | 79 | 80 | 67 | 64 | | Bol | 76 | 70 | 79 | 77 | 77 | 75 |  Van der Lijke | 70 | 73 | 79 | 74 | 66 | 68 | | Tivani | 70 | 67 | 77 | 78 | 78 | 68 | | Kiskonen | 74 | 68 | 77 | 77 | 77 | 77 | | Russo | 73 | 73 | 76 | 78 | 73 | 73 | | Lagane | 70 | 78 | 76 | 77 | 71 | 70 | | Sinclair | 70 | 61 | 76 | 75 | 70 | 69 | | Darbinyan | 72 | 66 | 76 | 74 | 71 | 72 | | Korosec | 71 | 75 | 75 | 78 | 71 | 74 | | Kelly | 74 | 69 | 75 | 77 | 73 | 69 | | Molano | 70 | 66 | 75 | 77 | 71 | 65 |
As a result, Lagane and Korosec from the lists above makes the sprinters list and Luchshenko, Grosser, and Olei would be the next 3 names if the list was extended.
With the weak field Carsi and Bol stand out as the top sprinters, although neither of them bring a complete leadout. Turgis will likely feature in Carsi’s leadout which could give him a shot a bonus seconds in the first two stages.
Bol is the best all-around sprinter here and the most likely of the true sprinters to contest the GC. Van der Lijke would have loved this race in his prime but he had bigger objectives back then, even dimmed as he is by age, he could hang on during the harder stages. Tivani, Kiskonen, and Russo all look like they could hold on if the hilly stages are not selective.
5 PCT teams and 15 from the CT at the start line, 158 riders in all.
Startlist
 
Edited by Ulrich Ulriksen on 09-03-2026 21:56
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| Imladrik |
Posted on 08-03-2026 22:46
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Win goal obviously, and the main reason why we got and trained Stocek. He has probably the best team we could provide here, so let's gooooo!
A top 3 would be nice, at least. We need the points.
Thanks for the preview Ulrich!
(But I don't think the screenshot is good  )
“...the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably."
A. Roy
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 08-03-2026 23:10
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Classics Specialist
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Should really suit Korosec this and probably his first really big goal of the season so excited to see how it goes for him
Great preview UU |
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| Caspi |
Posted on 09-03-2026 08:24
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No expectations for the team here. Would be fun with a stage top 3 for Smit or a top 20 in the GC for Carpenter, but we're mostly here to gain experience and be visible in the breakaways.
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| Bjartne |
Posted on 09-03-2026 17:28
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Classics Specialist
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Really nice preview UU! 
Hopefully Dyrnes can give Eriksson the needed help to compete for the GC-win here. Really looking forward to this |
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| Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 09-03-2026 17:57
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Not really wpecting anything here. Any points would be a nice bonus. Groaser has had a couple of decent races, so maybe there's some hope for that.
A good meeting of CT puncheurs. Let's see if we get those bunched sprints in every stage or if there's enough in someone to get the race ablaze.
Thanks for the preview, UU!
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| Dane Bramage |
Posted on 09-03-2026 20:14
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As always, we hope to grab a stage win. We still need 4...
The screenshot is a bit wrong
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| seancoll |
Posted on 09-03-2026 21:34
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Montenegro already surprised with a GC victory, so any sort of top 10 would be phenomenal. Tivani has also managed to stay in the top group before, even through the hilly stages - albeit when we had not puncheur.
Let's see what we can do - a 20pprd result would go a huge way toward finding end of season success.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 10-03-2026 11:17
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| Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 09-03-2026 21:57
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Startlist should be fixed.
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| Heine |
Posted on 10-03-2026 05:57
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Hoping for some good results here as I feel the parcourse fits specially Luschenko well, but the flat stages should be good stages for Russo and I hope Vincents stamina will give him an extra boost!
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 10-03-2026 10:29
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great start from Basso, Romele and nice to see Korosec up there very active day for us hopefully it continues |
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