The Women's Podium Is Complete and a Heat Warning

Podium Complete and Day 2 In-Depth Update

Day 1 Closing In

Mattia De Marchi (IT)

Yoan Dercourt (FR)

Marco Martins (PT)

Koch Benjamin (DE)

Alejandro Gonzalez (ES)

Juan Antonio Flecha (ES)

Oriol Chias (ES)

Pau Sansixto (ES)

Carles Sabater (ES)

Xavi Calvo (ES)

Mikel Roldan (ES)

Manuel Resino (ES)

Alejandro Gomez (ES)

Alexander Nikolopoulos (DE)

William Brossard (FR)

Lukas Eisele (DE)

Bruno Ferraro (IT)

Felipe Roman (CL)

Lawrence Carpenter (UK)

Christian Raab (DE)

Ibai Ordax (ES)

Nico Valsesia (IT)

Fernando Bernabeu (ES)

Anuchi Gago (ES)

Oliver Radford (UK)

Ismael Sánchez (ES)

Emil Muller (DK)

Adam Hockley (ES)

Felix Brenner (DE)

Anna Kollmann-suhr (AT)

Steffen Veen (DE)

Claudio Lima (UK)

Iñigo Cordal (ES)

Julia Nikolopoulos (DE)

Gary Williams (ES)

Liam Yates (UK)

Gonzalo Sáenz (ES)

Vicente Benito (ES)

Gerardo Rado (ES)

Markus Prantl (AT)

Alexander Stramma (UK)

Dieter Champagne (BE)

Gontzal Ayerdi (KR)

Miguel Angel Caldentey (ES)

Jesús Blázquez (ES)

Fernando Montesinos (ES)

Imanol Davila (ES)

Lourdes Oyarbide (ES)

Joe Jackson (ES)

Ander Moreira (ES)

Adam Smith (UK)

Daniel Waltermire (DE)

Gori Vara (ES)

Alexander Holhut (DE)

Alejandro Aznar (ES)

Christophe Iliou (FR)

Dries Smeuninx (BE)

Antonio Sérgio Sequeira (PT)

Tobias Herrmann (DE)

Omar Rubiano (CO)

Edoardo Botti (IT)

Edu Gonzalo (ES)

Youp Van Der Weijde (NL)

Nicolas Alejandro Pesce (IT)

Jose Angel Ramierez (ES)

Eneko Tellería (ES)

James Knight (UK)

Jorge Alonso (ES)

Charles Knight (UK)

Crispín Martinez (ES)

Miquel Manté (ES)

Carlos Azevedo (PT)

Gottfried Stute (DE)

María Martinez (ES)

Christophe Lorenz (CH)

Maialen Zabala (CH)

Txaber San Pedro (ES)

Enric Terricabras (ES)

Florian Rothe (DE)

Luca Foti (IT)

Elizabeth Hughes (UK)

Gerardo Suarez (ES)

Oscar Pujol (ES)

Juan Carlos Martínez (ES)

Milosz Rekawek (PL)

Albert Cufí Bohigas (ES)

Silvia Pineda (ES)

Bernardus Veltman (ES)

Berta Beran (ES)

Edgar Grandio (ES)

Ion Peironcely (ES)

Oscar Ruiz (ES)

Ernest Pilecki (PL)

David Cubillos (ES)

Sergiusz Wasilewski (PL)

Lukas Lamb (DE)

Max Kückels (ES)

Elliott Dixon (UK)

Valeriano Martinez (ES)

Daniel Schartmueller (AT)

Stefan Klausen (DE) & Hannes Noller (DE)

Jurek Ziemkiewicz (ES) & Aratz Otaegi (ES)

Kepa Astorkia (ES) & Jon Urbieta (ES)

Holly Seear (UK) & Steve Davidson (UK)

William Waggeveld (NL) & Nic Pronk (NL)

Paul Easto (UK) & Ben Anderson (UK)

Tom Bannister (UK) & Jamie Thompson (UK)

Alex Andreou (UK) & Jonathan Seary (NL)

Peter Mills (US) & Darin Argyle (US)

Simón Álvarez (ES) & Mark Vander Boor (NL)

Adrian Nieznalski (PL) & Manuela Julia Lekowska (PL)

Michael Gastaldo (DE) & Julius Eckert (DE)

Joost Doelman / Wilfred Greup (NL)

Yves Wyckmans (BE) & David Lopez (ES)

Steve Eastwood (FR) & William Neave (UK)

Jordi Garcia (ES) & Arnau Montserrat (ES)

Antonio Tijeras (ES) & Iván Muñoz (ES)

Jose Antonio Arenzana (ES) & Raúl Perez (ES)

Carlos Amaro (PT) & Joao Botelho (PT)

Thijs Kooy (NL) & Wendy Koopman (NL)

Jos Coumans (NL) & Tristan Coumans (NL)

Carlos Eduardo (BR) & Carlos Federico Pires (PT)

Borja Rivera (ES) & Jaime Agudo (ES)

Media Car 5

Media Car 2

Media Car 4

Media Car 3

Media Car 1

Joep Van Eil (NL)

Xavier Mauri (ES)

Photo from Carlos Mazon.

So, how did it go? Our Lanterne Rouge, Iñigo Gómez-cambronero, came in 18 hours ago, completing this edition of Basajaun.

We saw a heroic all out effort from the top 3 men (Mattia De Marchi, Yoan Dercourt and Marco Martins respectively). There was an equally impressive triumph in adversity from the initial leader, Ben Koch, who suffered from multiple punctures.

The women's race was a little more drawn out with Anuchi Gago leading from the gun and Anna Kollman-Sur valiantly chasing as well as Julia Nikolopoulos in third. The underdog story came from Movistar pro-racer, Lourdes Oyarbide, who came in 4th woman despite starting an hour and a half late. In the grand scheme of the race, this seems like a little amount of time, but can really affect your racing mojo as you start solo.

![Compartido desde Lightroom mobile (5)](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3teS6OkbQiuplOt2inNrRE/ff48a748e035f39af44ee762e6ef3457/Compartido_desde_Lightroom_mobile__5_.jpg)

## Weather Warnings

Despite almost perfect conditions at the beginning of the race, an extreme heat warning was served, really affecting riders in the second and third day. Luckily local hospitality, now famous at Basajaun, kept the riders spirits up. Due to increased heat, riders had to stop more to shelter and find food and water. 

Number 20 and 79, the Dutch Gilles brothers Christian and Rutger, started almost 24 hours late. They lost their bikes at the airport so had to set off as soon as they retrieved them. This meant they were caught out in the specific area that was affected by the heat wave, trooping on they finished 2nd and 3rd to last.

This and dry conditions led to more scratches from mechanicals and heat exhaustion. Chapeau to all the riders who tackled Basajaun!

Basajaun Wrap Up 2023

Picture by Carlos Mazon - Late departing, __Lourdes Oyarbide__, rolled in shortly after third place Julia. She managed to soak up the time gap that grew due to her late departure and also jump up the leaderboard to 4th woman. The pro rider made a great splash in the ultra-cycling, her first attempt at a gravel ultra!

The weather seems to have cooled slightly after the intense heat that was experienced yesterday and as the riders headed back North West. Some even enjoyed a pleasant tailwind as they rolled back towards Urbasa. One of the great parts of a loop race is more often than not, you'll get a tailwind at some point!

There are still quite a few riders out on the road, with __Iñigo Gómez-cambronero__ bringing up the rear, looking to potentially finish tomorrow or the day after.

![Screenshot 2023-08-04 at 14.23.17](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/8iBARdNUl2HFHuSBUpZRE/eb3f840543688a1124b79a68c1a6eca6/Screenshot_2023-08-04_at_14.23.17.png)

This edition has seen extreme temperatures, especially for the later summer time of year. With the heat, mechanicals and technical riding there has been a reasonably scratch rate. However, last year the DNS rate was slightly higher, making the finishing number bigger for 2023.

## Winning Pair

The first pair in,  __Stefan Klausen (DE) & Hannes Noller (DE)__, came in in just under 76 hours. An impressive run for a pair during some challenging riding conditions. They were followed by __Jurek Ziemkiewicz (ES) & Aratz Otaegi (ES)__ in second and then __Kepa Astorkia (ES) & Jon Urbieta (ES)__
in third.

In extreme conditions like the heat of Basajaun, it is important to be in sync with your pair! Amazing work from all the pairs that finished and the three pairs left on the road!


What's been going on?

__Anuchi Gago__ crossed the line in 73 hrs 40 mins, cementing herself as the 2023 Basajaun women's champion. An impressive race, especially given the extreme heat.

Then, in 77 hrs 31 mins __Anna Kollmann-suhr__ rolled over the line, swiftly followed by __Julia Nikolopoulos__ only 4 hours later at 81 hrs 37 mins. This is an substantial gain from Julia after being over 100km behind on the second morning.

![708e7825-e322-4d48-b698-7c825e2a43c1](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6ZtLEdJ93lbcSxkj7Ry6jd/389c5be645cd380280a6f3f9654893ad/708e7825-e322-4d48-b698-7c825e2a43c1.JPG)

Finally, a heat warning has been issued by the Spanish government which will seriously effect any riders around CP3. Currently, the two late starting Dutch riders, __Rutger Gilles__ and __Christian Gilles__, are caught in the heat but are resting and hopefully able to continue as the night cools off the heat.

After a fantastic few finishes where we've seen riders coming in under the 2 day mark without stopping, we've now got some exciting updates in the women's race.

__Anuchi Gago__ is about to roll into the finish after a fierce battle with __Anna Kollmann-suhr__. A very interesting tactical difference has developed, Anna didn't stop on the first night and Anuchi didn't stop on the last. A deviation from the norm from Anuchi, but it seems to have paid off. It was an amazing race from both riders for first woman and we've loved following them as they press for the finish.

Interestingly, __Julia Nikolopoulos__ has climbed the ranks and now the gap between the top 3 is shorter,she's currently riding at 689km.

__Lourdes Oyarbide__ jumped up the rankings to 38th, despite the late start. However, she is still behind Julia but only by . The pro-racer has slowed into the tail end of the race, but with a significant enough distance to go, can she close the gap?

## Other Updates

In the previous finishes, __Ben Koch__, the first leader seemed to be making frequent stops in unlikely locations. It seems Ben was unfortunately struck by multiple punctures that slowed him down and caused the overtake from Mattia early on.

Our eyes on the ground (through her [Instagram story](https://www.instagram.com/bikepixi/)) Liz Hughes has been showing us quite how hot and dry the last half of the race has been. Cracked grounds, no water and lots of heat. However, heartwarmingly, she stayed in a Casa where the whole village had stayed up DotWatching and the owner of the bar there stayed open for all the riders.

Photo by Carlos Mazon

The Women's Race - Anuchi is almost in!

Photos by Carlos Mazon

As I write, at 0807 GMT+1, Marco Martins reached the finish line 40 mins ago. The podium was completed all throughout night 2 meaning that the 2022 time was smashed! The route has somewhat changed, it is a little longer with a bit of smoother ride in parts so we'll ease off calling it an FKT.

__Winner - MATTIA DE MARCHI - CAP 4.__ Mattia (pictured) span in 43 hours and 59 minutes. An extremely impressive finish, but also meaning he finished in the middle of the night.

__Second - YOAN DERCOURT - CAP 70.__ Yoan made an impressive chase, finishing in 46 hours and 34 minutes. Yoan was moving a little slower than Mattia (by no means slowly!!) and actually stopped less than Mattia throughout the whole race.

__Third - MARCO MARTINS - CAP 123.__ Marco's time hasn't registered yet as he has only just come in, but an impressive ride for sure. He kept pace with the front two and managed to climb up the ranks throughout. Marco stopped very little throughout the race, taking small "micro-stops" as he could to refuel and rest.

It looks like Ben Koch will be in this morning, with only 50km to go. After a valiant battle and not stopping AT ALL for the first 24 hours, it was an impressive start for Ben. 

![Compartido desde Lightroom mobile](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5RgavYuGnjcLYfK7wHYR8f/00a6895e97e2e2dcbc6fbaa2ffc350b2/Compartido_desde_Lightroom_mobile.jpg)

## What Else Went On?

This race started off with what Donna (our on the ground DotWatcher) described as perfect race weather. The riders were able to keep a good pace, low stopping times and a smile on their face. However, as the race has progressed the sun has started bearing down and a lot of riders are struggling with the sun.

[Liz Hughes](https://www.instagram.com/bikepixi/) (pictured above) has been providing daily updates on her Instagram story, summing up how the race is going. She's given more details on quite how hot it has been and this could go some way to explaining the slowing of the riders.

![Compartido desde Lightroom mobile (1)](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/yC1ZjkOZZ5OXOGhjVYcoy/92fee7f9530a689fbb6d75e290ebe627/Compartido_desde_Lightroom_mobile__1_.jpg)

In the women's race __Anuchi__ and __Anna__ are still battling it out, however, Anuchi (pictured) has put a big gap between the two of around 35km. Unless she takes a significant rest or stops for a mechanical, this'll be hard to beat. Anuchi stopped last night for 5 hours, but early into the night so left this morning at 2am. Anna took a longer rest, but from 6-12, it looks like they both may have been sheltering from the hot sun.

Transiberica Club has been running women's camps and events throughout the past season or two and it has really shown, their races have lots of women both highly competitive and newer riders. As well as this, they are keen to spotlight the women on their social media, website and race info!

We'll keep you updated as the race progress, chapeau to the podium and more to come!


Photo of Anuchi by Jacob Kopecky.

Things have hotted up today, riders are really suffering from the heat. We've seen plenty of scratches but still riders truck on at an intense speed. 

![e205eb12-8387-49cd-a48e-b0bbb0496180](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/yLC9sU2y6pCsItEtynNLk/99b87e366619a11aa1350657d7066312/e205eb12-8387-49cd-a48e-b0bbb0496180.jpg)

The stopping times of the top 3 riders have been unbelievably small, with Mattia stopping for only an hour culmulatively in the entire race. Given this strategy from all three, it is likely they will come in during the night tonight.

All we can say is stay glued to the tracking to find out who makes it to the finish line first! It looks like it'll be Mattia, he put in a HUGE effort during the day and is currently 40km in front of Yoan. With so much distance put in it is going to be hard to close the gap, but anything could happen.


A Quick Night 2 Update

## Donna is still on the ground, here's the morning update:

Photos by Carlos Mazon

There were many more late starters than expected this year, more than mentioned earlier.

- __CAP 20  Rutger Gilles (NL)& 79 CAPS Christian Gilles (NL)__ almost lost their bicycles in transit and didn't start until yesterday evening. 

- __CAP 10  Oscar Pujol (ES)__ just now started however, he will most likely advance far very fast
- __Lourdes__ the pro Movistar rider, has already overtaken 99 riders in solo and 20 in the pairs even with a 3h sleep and suffering many flats.

Assistance cars have however been spotted on the course, we are unsure as to who these were intended for at the moment but penalties will be passed out. This is definitely not within the spirit of self-supported and especially with a race that many riders ride through the night, it is hard to police.

Pamplona is becoming a haven for riders to head into town, fix their punctures, refuel and just take a few moments rest. Remember the riders must reenter the route from the place they left it, but often deviations are required to refuel and fix bikes which is perfectly allowed.

![387e1bdf-7808-4b13-8ee1-d6706bf3e459](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5VvtIcRLBkE47TmvGeU07i/182afbc8b6174ac9b8540d89859c68a9/387e1bdf-7808-4b13-8ee1-d6706bf3e459.jpg)

## Leaderboards

Mattia is still leading but there has been a shuffle in the top three. Earlier, Ben Koch was still in second with Yoan Dercourt in 3rd. However, with Ben stopping for a mere few minutes at 8am this morning, Yoan saw his moment and overtook with Marco Martins swiftly following suit. Ben and Marco are now leapfrogging one another and it's anyones guess as to who could take the top 3 spots.

In the women's race __Cap 33 Anuchi Gago (ES)__ is leading with __Cap 78 Anna Kollmann-suhr (AT)__ not far behind. A big gap follows where __Cap 107  Julia Nikolopoulos (DE)__ is in third. Anna was in a solid lead over Anuchi, but due to a prolonged stop in Lumbier, Anuchi blew through adding a further gap between her and Anna.

__Stefan Klausen (DE) & Hannes Noller (DE)__ lead the pairs race, however, they were not the first to reach CP1 with __Antonio Tijeras (ES) & Iván Muñoz (ES)__ arriving first. Just as in the main race, the latter pair are in 4th now, could this be an omen!

As we continue to see riders push throughout the day, the biggest unknown will be any mechanical issues in the front few. Hopefully their bikes stay sound and rolling smoothly but keep an eye out as we progress into the evening.

Night 1 and Morning 2 Update

The worry for Basajaun this year was the high heats Europe has been experiencing, however, despite still being a summer temperatures, it cooled off throughout the day with cloudy and warm conditions. Some would say the conditions are perfect and tonight will be in the teens and tens as riders find somewhere to sleep.

We have our DotWatchers on the ground including [Donna](https://www.instagram.com/madonna_deeb/), providing information from the race.

![image](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1geNY5v3iufP7I13V97Ccz/dedc76138dcb73158b42bbbcb89ddde3/image.png)

Early this afternoon we had a screechingly fast arrival to CP1 from Dead Ends and Cake 2023 winner, Ben Koch. He arrived at the first CP in 5 hrs - that's over 130km of mixed terrain riding in under 5 hours. He was swiftly followed by Roman Comulada and Mattia De Marchi.

However, in the later hours of the ride there has been a slowing with the average speed dropping from close to 25km/h at the front to 21km/h. The shuffling happened pretty soon after CP1. Mattia has stopped for a grand total of 4 minutes whilst Roman has stopped for 10. Mattia is now around 13km ahead of Ben and Roman who are both riding neck and neck at the time of writing.

Given the ground covered by the front riders in just over 15 hours, the key to winning this race will be efficiency. The riders are very unlikely to stop to rest for long, so the small moments of refuelling, tinkering with bikes and changing kit could count each time.

![WhatsApp Image 2023-07-30 at 12.09.54](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2vW0MHnuHQ01SaKEVo5F3b/217c491cb11ee6cb9f45633740318d70/WhatsApp_Image_2023-07-30_at_12.09.54.jpeg)

Elsewhere in the race, riders have been pushing up the first significant hill, proving quite how gnarly this race will be. With plenty of climbing, the riders will hopefully have packed light to keep the vertical gains slightly less gruelling.

Due to the difficult riding conditions, we've seen a lot of mechanical issues. A broken frame, broken chain, broken shifter and plenty of flat tires. It is definitely slowing the riders down but most are able to fix and persevere.

Currently there are 2, maybe 3, riders tackling this rather hilly affair single speed. Hopefully we'll be able to see if its doable, if so, that'll be quite the feat.

Feelings in general: Urbasa is taking riders breath away from deep forest to wild animals.

After Urbasa, the hill is quite tough not many riders expected this. The pass is fully gravel, the terrain is perfect but hard, some rocky hills in Irati where riders needed to push their bikes. However, after Irati the riding is a little smoother and more forgiving.

The main concern prior to Irati is refuelling and ensuring they have enough supplies to tackle the remote forest.

Our update tomorrow morning will contain all the overnight antics - you won't want to miss it.

__Scratches/ride ends:__
There were 4-5 scratches due to mechanicals and we've listed a couple here:

- __CAP 30 Kelvin Chow (SG) (DNF)__ broke his shoulder during the first few kilometres, he is safe in hospital and race organiser Carlos stayed with him, ensuring he was looked after.
- __CAP 158 Barend Derriks (NL) (DNF)__ unfortunately sustained a small but ride ending crash.

__Other rider specific updates:__
- __CAP 20 Rutger Gilles (NL)__ had a late start as they almost lost their bikes through transit!
- __Cap 3 Lourdes Oyarbide (ES)__ was also a late starter after not waking for her alarm. The team Movistar rider is still making good time, hitting 200km in 8 hours.

Last year, Oliver Beresford rolled through to finish in 48 hours, 39 minutes, winning the first edition of Basajaun. An amazing feat, just over 2 full days to complete an challenging 760km+ race with 14km of pure climbing. 

This year, can anyone beat this speedy FKT? With 215 solo riders and 37 pairs, there are enough riders to bring competition to the race. 

For the race, there are 4 200km race sections with gravel, road and climbs.

URBASA - An area with meadows and beaches, where you'll see the iconic Spanish beach scenes. This 1000m plateau separates the Mediterranean climate from the Atlantic, leading to some interesting weather. 

IRATI FOREST - One of the largest masses of fir trees in contentinental Europe, despite the mass deforestation. This part will provide some cool cover for the riders and introduce some slightly more covered terrain.

BARDENAS REALES - A semi-desertous area that's owned by 22 “congozantes”, this area provides the backdrop to most of the images you've seen of Basajaun. A hot and challenging ride, the athletes will need to ensure they have enough water and supplies to tackle this section.

SIERRA DE LA DEMANDA - A mountain range topped by Pico San Lorenzo (2270m). This will be a final challenge for the brave riders. Climbing and changeable conditions. In the unlikely event of rain, this clay-y soil will be a challenge to climb.

## Tactics

At 760km, there will be riders hoping to head out and not sleep throughout. This is always a risk and carries a go hard or go home strategy. These riders will have limited equipment and will be riding fast and hard.

The other tactics will be considered and planned, riders here will have scoured the route, looked for resupplies, safe and comfortable sleeping spots and the best weather conditions throughout. Sometimes, in the most changeable conditions these riders can prevail, especially in these high temperatures.

Then we have our adventurers! Not every race is about winning, there are plenty of riders out for a once in a lifetime experience. Make sure you take a look at these riders' social media and their moves to see the race through their eyes.

## Articles on Basajaun

- [Shimano](https://gravel.shimano.com/uk/stories/basajaun-expect-the-unexpected)
- [Raw Magazine](https://www.rawcyclingmag.com/basajaun-between-forests-and-arid-lands/)
- [Pack 2 Ride](https://pack2ride.com/en-eu/blogs/news/basajun-2022)

Photo by [Jacob Kopecky](https://www.instagram.com/jacob_kopecky/) - 2022 Badlands.

Basajaun 2023 Preview

Kitty Dennis

Basajaun 2023 Race Tracking + Commentary:  From the organisers of TransIbérica, riders through some of the Basque Country's undiscovered paths and its vastly diverse surrounds. With the greenery and lush landscapes, this will be a majestic race.

Basajaun 2023 Race Tracking

Basajaun passes through some of the Basque Country's undiscovered paths and its vastly diverse surrounds. With the greenery and lush landscapes of Urbasa and the Irati Forest before the starkly contrasting arid lands of the Bardenas Reales semi-desert and Sierra de la Demands. Mandatory rest periods are new for 2023.

Basajaun 2023

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