Basajaun

Basajaun is named after the Lord of the Forest of Basque myth, a guardian of remote woods and protector of flocks, and the route lives up to the name. Leaving Vitoria-Gasteiz, it climbs onto the beech-covered Urbasa plateau, where the Atlantic and Mediterranean climates meet, then crosses into the Navarrese Pyrenees and the Irati forest, one of the largest beech and fir forests in Europe. Riders describe fog and fine drizzle under the trees.

Then the landscape turns inside out. The route drops into the clay and sandstone semi-desert of the Bardenas Reales, known for heat and headwinds, follows the Ebro, and crosses the Sierra de la Demanda close to Pico San Lorenzo before heading back through the forests of the Izki Natural Park. Most of it is off-road, with loose sand, rocky ground and long gravel climbs.

It is run by Transibérica, the Bilbao-based club behind Transiberica and Transpyrenees, directed by ultra-distance rider Carlos Mazón. The format is a single non-stop stage on a set route, fully unsupported: nothing can be booked in advance, support crews are banned, and the fastest rider gets no prize beyond the honour of arriving first.