The mist is still clinging to the green hills as you leave Markina. Somewhere below, a cowbell rings. Welcome to the Basque Country, where the landscape is rarely flat.
You’ll feel that all day today. No single climb is a monster, but together they add up to well over 800 metres of ascent, and the descents are hard on your knees. With breaks, you’ll be on the road for over 8 hours. Patches of woodland, small farms and narrow asphalt lanes follow one another.
Gernika only comes into view late in the day, when the hills fall away and the first houses appear. The town is world-famous for the bombing during the Spanish Civil War and the painting Picasso made about it. Take it easy, eat on time and save a little energy for the final kilometres. They feel longer than they are.