Julián Eraso, president of the Sicuristas Youth Cadi Association (OCETA), has come under fire for his controversial remarks about the Iturria Women's Three-Day Race held in the Basque Country on Friday.

In an interview with Radio Marca Bilbao, Eraso said the organization was "almost forced" to run the women's event, suggesting that progress in sports equality is "fashioned."

"We were almost kind of forced to host it. This is a fashion issue. In the end. Equality, such and such. Dialogue]. Everyone says that something must be done for women's sports, and it is the turn of cycling," Elaso said, as reported in El Español (opens in new tab).

He added that while OCETA, which also hosts the long-running men's Iturria Basque, Clasica San Sebastián, and Donostia San Sebastián Classicoa competitions, will devote more effort to organizing the women's competitions, "in a few years we will see why we will no longer have to worry about why we do it," he suggested.

"I'm not worried because we were told we had to organize and we know a little bit about it and we are organizing it. I hope this gets integrated," Eraso said.

Elaso's remarks provoked a public outcry from several Basque political leaders, who expressed outrage at his comments about the organization of Iturian women.

Harkaitz Milan, deputy delegate for culture, cooperation, youth, and sports, condemned the remarks and noted that the "machismo" culture was the fad and needed to be stopped.

In a Twitter post, Milan said: "Given the statements of @ehitzulia's director, #JuliánEraso, and @RMARCABilbao, I think that support for women's sports is not a matter of fashion but of fighting machismo in sports I would like to point out that it is a matter of commitment to do so."

Goizane Alvarez, Director of the Youth and Sports Department of the Guipuzcoa Provincial Government, said, "Today, there is no sporting event where men and women are not welcome on the same terms. Equality is a right, not a fad. That is why we are trying to take the same step in Ituria that we took in San Sebastián Clásica," she said in a report published in Archysport (opens in new tab).

And while stating that the first Ituria Women's is a commitment to equality, she added, "(This event) is an act that reinforces our commitment to socialist management for equality, so that women also have space to grow as athletes and sports professionals. Our commitment is related to promoting behavioral change in the sporting system towards a feminist society in sport."

Ana del Val, deputy delegate for culture and sports in the state of Alava, has publicly demanded that Elasso retract her statement, calling it "disfiguring and unacceptable."

"Women's sports are not fashionable. On the contrary, our policy is not a step backward," he said in a post on Twitter.

Furthermore, Maidel Etchevarria, first deputy mayor of the Vitoria Gasteiz City Council, stated that "equality is not a fashion."

"Women face inequality for the simple fact that they are women. That is why we continue to defend women's sports," she wrote.

OCETA had intended to launch Iturria Women last year, but it was canceled and replaced by the Donostia San Sebastian Classicoa on the Women's World Tour. This year marks the first stage race on the top-class calendar and the first of many world-class races to be held in Spain, especially in the Basque Country.

The three-day race will pass through all three territories where Demi Vollering won the first stage in Euskadi, Arava, Biscaia, Guipuzcoa, and La Bastida, along the route of the Donostico Classicoa women's race, Clasica San Sebastian Finish.

In an official communiqué on Friday, organizers expressed "regret" over Elaso's comments and stated that the organization is dedicated to promoting women's cycling in the Basque Country.

"Iturria Women was born out of the need to restore a great women's stage race in the Basque Country following the disappearance of the Emacmen Vila and the success of the first two editions of the Clasica San Sebastián Women.

"The purpose of the organization is to promote women's cycling in the Basque Country and to respond to the requests of the partner organizations (City Council, Provincial Council, Basque Government).

"Our support and commitment as an organization to women's cycling is evident. The organization regrets the misunderstanding and anxiety that has arisen, and hopes that the unfortunate comments made by OCETA President Julián Eraso on Radio Marca Bilbao will not tarnish the wonderful progress made by the emergence of Iturrian women in the ecosystem of races that make up the international women's cycling calendar. I hope they do not tarnish it.