Itzulia Women

The race is three road stages with meaningful climbing, some years with an uphill finish on one of the first two days. Every edition so far has ended with a stage around Donostia-San Sebastián over Jaizkibel and Mendizorrotz, where the last climb is followed by a descent and a run-in to the line. Stages are shorter than in the men's race, but the terrain is just as unforgiving: constant elevation change, narrow roads through forested valleys, and little flat ground for recovery. The first five editions had no time trial, so time is won on the climbs, on the descents and in bonus seconds. The compressed format means that a single bad day can decide the overall, and teams with depth can control the race more easily than in longer stage races. Breakaways succeed when the favorites are evenly matched or when a team miscalculates the day's difficulty, but the climbs ensure that only strong riders reach the finish in contention.