The race was won for the first time by Alejandro Valverde of the Movistar Team,[3] who took the race lead on the penultimate day after winning the queen stage in Eibar, before further extending the lead by finishing second in the final-day individual time trial; Valverde's finishes on those stages aided him to take the points classification from Team Sunweb's Michael Matthews at the death. Valverde finished 17 seconds clear of four-time race winner Alberto Contador (Trek–Segafredo) while the all-Spanish podium was completed by the national time trial champion, Ion Izagirre, a further four seconds in arrears of Contador for the Bahrain–Merida team.
In the race's other classifications, Cannondale–Drapac's Alex Howes won the polka-dot jersey as winner of the mountains classification, Lluís Mas (Caja Rural–Seguros RGA) was the winner of the intermediate sprints classification while Bahrain–Merida won the teams classification.
Route
The full route of the 2017 Tour of the Basque Country was announced on 23 March 2017.[4]
As the Tour of the Basque Country was a UCI World Tour event, all eighteen UCI WorldTeams were invited automatically and were obliged to enter a team in the race. Two UCI Professional Continental teams – Cofidis and Caja Rural–Seguros RGA – were awarded wildcard places, bringing the number of teams to twenty.[5] As each team included eight riders, a total of 160 riders started the first stage.
In the 2017 Tour of the Basque Country, four different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, the leader received a yellow jersey.[24] This classification was considered the most important of the 2017 Tour of the Basque Country, and the winner of the classification was considered the winner of the race.
Points for the mountains classification
Position
1
2
3
4
5
6
Points for Category 1
10
8
6
4
2
1
Points for Category 2
6
4
2
1
0
Points for Category 3
3
2
1
0
Additionally, there was a points classification, which awarded a white jersey.[24] In the points classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 15 in a stage. For winning a stage, a rider earned 25 points, with 20 for second, 16 for third, 14 for fourth, 12 for fifth, 10 for sixth with a point fewer per place down to a single point for 15th place. There was also a sprints classification for the points awarded at intermediate sprints on each stage (except for the time trial stage) – awarded on a 3–2–1 scale – where the leadership of which was marked by a blue jersey.[24]
The fourth jersey represented the mountains classification, marked by a white and red polka-dot jersey.[24] Points for this classification were won by the first riders to the top of each categorised climb, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs.[24] There was also a classification for teams, in which the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added together; the leading team at the end of the race was the team with the lowest total time.[24]
^"UCI expands WorldTour to 37 events". Cycling News. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
^"The UCI reveals expanded UCI WorldTour calendar for 2017". UCI. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
^ a b c"Valverde wins the Vuelta al Pais Vasco". Cyclingnews.com. 8 April 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
^"Vuelta País Vasco 2017: Etapas y perfiles" [Tour of the Basque Country: Stages and profiles]. Ciclo21 (in Spanish). CiclismoDigital S.L. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
^Brochure 2017, p. 73.
^Brochure 2017, pp. 17–23.
^"Pais Vasco, stage 1: Matthews sprints to first win of season". VeloNews. 3 April 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
^Brochure 2017, pp. 27–31.
^Robertshaw, Henry (4 April 2017). "Michael Albasini takes unexpected stage win in Tour of the Basque Country stage two". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
^"Pais Vasco: Albasini wins tricky stage 2 sprint". VeloNews. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
^Brochure 2017, pp. 33–39.
^Robertshaw, Henry (5 April 2017). "David de la Cruz takes stunning solo win in Tour of the Basque Country stage three". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
^"Pais Vasco: De la Cruz wins stage 3, claims overall lead". VeloNews. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
^Brochure 2017, pp. 41–47.
^Adams, Tom (6 April 2017). "'It'll be a tricky night,' says Alberto Contador after nightmare day". Eurosport. Discovery Communications. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
^Wynn, Nigel (7 April 2017). "Alejandro Valverde wins Tour of the Basque Country mountain stage to set up tense finale". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
^"Pais Vasco, stage 5: Valverde wins mountaintop sprint". VeloNews. 7 April 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
Michael Matthews (AUS)
Michael Albasini (SUI)
David de la Cruz (ESP)
Primož Roglič (SLO)
