Hiya humans! We got one more bike race for your pleasure from the Beloved Country before we head to the Ardennes and other places before returning on July 31st for the San Sebastian Classic and that is the Klasika Primavera. Let's get right down to the facts.
Who's racing: The big favorites on paper are Joaquin Rodriguez and Andy Schleck, both honing their Ardennes fitness to razor-sharp perfection. I'd say that of either one of these guys win then you'd have to put them on the very short list of contenders for any of the Ardennes races. Other contenders include (to my shell) Riggo Uran, David Arroyo, Jakob Fuglsang, Benat Intxausti, Egoi Martinez, Ivan Santaromita, and Zeke Mosquera. Click here to see the fill startlist with teams.
What's the course like? On the flip...
So what is the course like? 171 kilometers of hilly fun! Well, the first half is pretty flat but being in the Basque Country, the end has got some silly steep climbs: 
No doubt there will be hundreds of screaming Basques on the last couple of climbs.
The finish however is fast and downhill so if we have a group together over the last climb there should be a sprint for the win:
Is that what will happen? A bunch sprint? Probably, yes. A small selective sprint. Lats year Valverde lead a group of eleven riders across the line. 2nd was Egoi Martinez with other climby types like F. Schleck, Nibali, and Mosquera recording the same time.
In 2008, Cunego out sprinted Valverde for the win with only Carlstrom and Astarloza able to keep up. Mind you, there was a group of 13 other goatish types just 123 seconds back. You get the idea: Its like your basic Pais Vasco stage. Or, alternatively, for some of the riders it's an Ardennes preview but with a lot of Spanish continental riders to fill out the field.
Now I understand that you probably won't be watching this in favor of Paris-Roubaix. Also because it's probably not on video anywhere. So I forgive you. And until July 31st, this is Txirla saying, it's been great hosting you this past week and good bye until San Sebastian! I love you humans with your leg appendage thingys!
