Once, the present and future of cycling in the Basque Country were orange. Today, that is still the case, if the blend of colours on the roadside during Saturday’s convoluted 180km stage through this cycling heartland was anything to go by. There were ikurriñas waving aplenty, in all sizes, the green, red and white colours that are always seen when the Tour route merely flirts with this proudly independent-minded region on the other side of the Pyrenees.
On the final two climbs, there were plenty of the orange T-shirts, fishing hats and racing jerseys which used to colour every verge and pavement in the heyday of the Euskaltel-Euskadi team.
