ALICANTE, Spain -The Tour of Spain will visit the Basque Country for the first time since 1978, 2011 race organizers said at the course presentation on Wednesday.

When the Vuelta last went to the region considered Spain's cycling heartland, it descended into chaos and two stages were cancelled as separatists blocked the route with barricades, threw tacs on the roads and flung sand into riders' eyes.

The announcement came two days after Basque separatist guerrillas ETA made public a ceasefire declaration after more than 40 years of an armed campaign in which more than 850 people died.

The ETA has been notably weakened by arrests and rising support among Basques for peaceful methods and during Spain's successful World Cup campaign last year Spanish flags were unfurled on balconies in the region where nationalist flags would otherwise have been more typical.

The 2011 Tour of Spain route will feature two hilly treks through the Basque Country, with a stage finish in the final week looping through Bilbao and another in its capital, Vitoria.

"We have to thank the organizers for bringing the race to our home," 2010 race leader and talented climber Igor Anton, who rides for the Basque team Euskaltel-Euskadi, said.

"The route goes past my home, over climbs I know well and I'm sure the Basque fans will respond en masse."

Big deal

Britain's David Millar, a former Basque Country resident and five-time stage winner of the Tour of Spain, said the decision to return to the region was a big deal.

"This is where sport's good, it can reach out beyond that political stuff," he said.

"The Basque fans are the best in cycling, they're like the Dutch fans in the 1980s and they deserve a big race.

"One of the race's most popular teams, Euskaltel-Euskadi, won't care if it comes first or 50th overall so long as it wins one of those two stages in the Basque Country - the whole place would go crazy."

Race organizer Javier Guillen said he was expecting a warm welcome.

"There's no doubt that this will contribute greatly to things settling back to normal there," he said. "But all I can say really is that we're delighted we're going.

"The Basque Country has a superb fan base in cycling, the terrain is wonderful for racing and I just hope it doesn't take another 33 years for us to get there again."

Six summit finishes on the 2011 route will favor the mountain men, with the 11-kilometer ascent of the legendary Angliru climb on Stage 15 likely to decide the winner.

"It's the hardest single climb in Spain," Anton said. "If it gives me the chance to wear the leader's jersey when we go into the Basque Country a few days later, then so much the better."

The 2011 Tour of Spain starts in Benidorm on Aug 20 and finishes on Sept 11 in Madrid.

Reuters

(China Daily 01/14/2011 page23)