During this week, the Itzulia is being held, the most important cycling tour in stages in the Basque Country. For six days the international peloton travels the complicated Basque trails in search of the leader's jersey and an element that differentiates this competition from the others... A beret!
Round, flattened and made of wool, the object of desire of those who aspire to win in Itzulia these days has a specific name: the txapela. It is not just any beret and of course it has its respective history.
The characteristic garment is typical of the most traditional Basque culture and despite the fact that it is not common, even today it is possible to see inhabitants of the Basque Country wearing txapela. However, nowadays wearing this beret is associated with sporting successes and it is possible to find champions with txapela outside the cycling field as well.
But where does it come from? The txapela became popular during the 19th century when the Basque Country was embroiled in the Carlist Wars. The Basque general Tomás de Zumalacárregui and his red "beret" were largely responsible, since his army called "txapelgorris" (the red txapela) caused a furor among the population.
Starting in the 20th century, the use of txapela skyrocketed and it even began to be exported outside the Basque Country. It was also during this period that he began to relate to sport. In fact, in Basque the very word "competition" can be translated into "txapelketa" which means "tournament for the beret". The winner gets that beret.
The greater the achievement, the greater the txapela must be and taking into account that the participation of this 62nd edition of the Itzula has such illustrious names as Jonas Vingegaard, Richard Carapaz, Enric Mas, Mikel Landa or Dani Martínez, among many others. , the final winner should be awarded a giant txapela, since winning this edition is going to be of real merit.
