- In 2021 there will be no Itzulia Women’s event.
- The Women’s San Sebastián Classic will take the place of the Itzulia, and will be run on 31 July.
As the owners and organisers of the Itzulia Basque Country and San Sebastián Classic events, OCETA has been working for months to set up an Itzulia Women’s race. This ambitious project is seen as the heir to the Women’s San Sebastián Classic. Unfortunately, we have been forced to cancel the first edition of the Itzulia Women’s event. “The idea of the Itzulia Women’s race was that it should inherit the mantle of the Women’s Classic, which was set to be seriously compromised by the placing of the women’s Tour de France so close to it on the calendar. That is why we have worked very hard to change the dates of the event and make it longer, thus creating an Itzulia Women’s race. But this year there is to be no women’s Tour de France, so the Women’s Classic is to go ahead”, said OCETA Chair Julián Eraso.
There will therefore be a women’s San Sebastián Classic in 2021. It will be organised in the same way as in 2019, i.e. on the same day as the men’s event. “We can reveal that it will share part of the men’s route, though there may be changes with respect to the previous event” added Mr. Eraso. “We hope to be able to stage both events and bring major cycling back to Donostia and Gipuzkoa as things were in 2019, albeit with increased health measures”.
In spite of the cancellation of the 2021 Itzulia Women’s event, the organisers are hopeful that it will be back in 2022, though this will depend on how close to the Classic the women’s Tour de France is scheduled. “We know it will not be easy, but the Basque Country and women’s cycling deserve a race like this and we will carry on working to provide them with one” he concluded.
