The 2023 Itzulia Women was a Spanish women's cycle stage race that was held in the Basque Country from 12 to 14 May 2023. The 2023 edition of the race was the second running of Itzulia Women, being held as part of the 2023 UCI Women's World Tour.
The race was won by Swiss rider Marlen Reusser of SD Worx. The SD Worx team dominated the event, winning 4 of the 5 classifications.
Route The race uses the hilly landscape of the Basque Country, with seven categorised climbs over the 3 stages, including the famed Jaizkibel climb (7.9 km at 5.6%) used in the Clásica de San Sebastián. +Stage characteristics and winnersStageDateRouteDistanceTypeWinnerTeam112 MayEika-Etxebarria to Markina-XemeinHilly stage213 MayVitoria-Gasteiz to AmurrioHilly stage314 MaySan Sebastián to San SebastiánHilly stageTotal
Summary Prior to the race, the 2023 La Vuelta Femenina was fought between Demi Vollering of SD Worx and Annemiek van Vleuten of Movistar Team. These two riders were therefore considered favourites for the race win.
In the race itself, Demi Vollering won the first stage by 47 seconds after a 12 kilometre attack from the Urkaregi climb. Van Vleuten crashed on the wet roads of the final climb, putting her a minute behind Vollering. On the second stage, Vollering won the final sprint, maintaining her lead. On the final stage, Marlen Reusser of SD Worx used a solo attack to win the stage 2' 38" ahead of Vollering. Reusser therefore took the overall win, with a margin of 1' 50".
Four of the classifications were won by SD Worx, with Reusser also winning the points classification, and Vollering winning the mountains classification. SD Worx also took the team classification. The young rider classification was won by New Zealand rider Ella Wyllie of Lifeplus–Wahoo, winning her first classification at a World Tour event.
SD Worx continued their domination of the UCI Women's World Tour rankings, with four riders in the top six and Vollering keeping the leaders jersey.
Classification leadership table +Classification leadership by stageStageWinnerGeneral classificationPoints classificationMountains classificationYoung rider classificationTeam classification1Demi VolleringDemi VolleringDemi VolleringDemi VolleringElla Wyllie2Demi Vollering3Marlen ReusserMarlen ReusserMarlen ReusserFinalMarlen ReusserMarlen ReusserDemi VolleringElla Wyllie
On stage 2 & 3, Marlen Reusser, who was second in the points classification, wore the green jersey, because first placed Demi Vollering wore the violet jersey as the leader of the general classification. For the same reason, on stage 2, Niamh Fisher-Black, who was second in the mountains classification, wore the red jersey.
Result +Final general classificationRankRiderTeamTime12 + 1' 50"3 + 2' 59"4 + 3' 00"5 + 3' 07"6 + 3' 41"7 + 4' 32"8 + 4' 51"9 + 6' 04"10 + 6' 33"
See also 2023 in women's road cycling
References