Compiègne > Roubaix 259km Paris-Roubaix brings the cobbled classics to a close and what a few weeks it’s been. 

Eibar > Eibar 155km Get ready for a GC showdown in the hills around Eibar. After a dominant climbing performance on Thursday, Almeida has a solid lead in the GC, but this stage is incredibly demanding, and the race leader has lost it all before. 

Urduña > Gernika-Lumo 174km The 5th stage of the race is up for grabs. It could be a day for the break but it’s also a stage that some of the fast men will be keen on. The final categorised climb doesn’t look the hardest, on first inspection, but you need to look a little deeper in this part of the world.

Beasain > Markina-Xemein 170km Today was crazy, thank God the organisers reversed their decision and Aranburu got a deserved win. I have no idea why UAE and Bora wanted to blow the race early, but it nearly backfired and cost them the race, but we approach this day still with everything to play for. This stage is actually quite straightforward, 2880m of climbing isn’t much by Itzulia standards, but the final climb is brutal. I’ve spent all day looking at it, get ready for a deep dive!

Zarautz > Beasain 157km After two easy stages, things start to get hard. Only 157km in length, this stage has over 3000m of climbing, that’s tough in anyone’s book. I don’t think we’ll see any big moves on GC, but the hierarchy in a few teams should become clearer after this stage.

Terneuzen > Schoten 204km Scheldeprijs is another race where the weather has a huge impact on the type of day we get. If it’s a nice day, it’s a big sprint, but when the wind blows the race is very selective.

Pamplona-Iruña > Lodosa 198km You don’t often get easy stages in this race, but this is one. Around 2000m of climbing and just one little climb in the final 20km, this is a day for the sprinters.

Vitoria-Gasteiz > Baskonia-Alavés 16.4km ITT As usual, the race starts with an ITT, but this one is flat compared to previous years. This is a chance for some of the GC riders to take an early advantage over those who don’t do well in this discipline. It might be the first stage, but it’s already an important one in terms of the GC.

Itzulia is one of the best races on the calendar, it’s always been a favourite of mine. The Basque fans are the best in the world (sorry Flanders), they add the extra 10% that some races are missing. This year, the route is fairly traditional, lots of steep climbs and narrow roads. Juan Ayuso isn’t back to defend his title; the locals would love to see Pello Bilbao or Ion Izagirre going for the win.

Estella-Lizarra > Estella-Lizarra 206km GP Miguel Indurain is a nice starter before the main course of Itzulia on Monday. It’s a punchy race which suits climbers who have a bit of oomph in the legs. Brandon McNulty is back to try and defend his title.