This one day race brings out the best one-day racers, some returning to racing after recovery from the Tour, others with fresh legs for the second half of the season.  The race takes place in the Basque Region of northern Spain and travels 227km over hilly terrain that has seen a wide variety of riders take the win.  It starts overlooking the golden sands of the bay and ends back in the center of town, a race-winning attack usually coming from the slopes of the Alto de Jaizkibel.