The great peaks will define La Vuelta a España 2023

MADRID, 25 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The 78th edition of La Vuelta a España, which starts this Saturday, August 26 in Barcelona and will end on September 17 in Madrid, will be marked by great peaks such as Tourmalet, Angliru or the unprecedented Larrau, which will decide a perfect race for the great climbers of the peloton.

It is not a great lap suitable for wheelers, since there will be few kilometers against the clock. The 14.8-kilometre team time trial that opens the competition on Saturday the 25th and stage 10, a mostly flat 25.8-kilometre individual time trial, in which there should be no big differences.

The sprinters will have few opportunities, but the first of them will come in the second stage, in a day with a flat finish in Barcelona in which the sprinter teams should control the race, although the climb to Coll de Estalenas in the 2nd category half of the stage could harden the race and favor a breakaway.

The first full week of competition begins with the first mountain stage, 158 kilometers ending in Arisal-Andorra, first category, the second first class port of the day, after the climb to Coll de Ordino. On Tuesday and Wednesday the race relaxes with two completely flat stages, ending in Tarragona and Burriana.

On the sixth day comes the first of the mythical ascents of this edition, after 183 kilometres, the race will finish at the extremely tough Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory, a first-class climb, with 10.9 kilometers of ascent at an average gradient of 8%. . In the seventh, the men of the general classification will be able to rest with a completely flat stage that will reach the Valencian town of Oliva.

The last stage that the Valencian Community will go through in this edition will cover 165 kilometers between Dénia and the explosive final climb to Xorret del Catí, 3.9 kilometers at an 11.4% average slope, which despite not being very long, will have the added difficulty that the runners will face it with three second category climbs and one third category climb in their legs.

Before the first rest day, the race reaches the Region of Murcia, with a stage that will leave Cartagena and culminate with the ascent to the Collado de la Cruz de Caravaca, 8.2 kilometers at 5.5%, but with sections that exceed 20% unevenness. On Monday, September 4, the race will stop and the caravan will move to Valladolid, to take part in the individual time trial on Tuesday.

After the fight against the clock, on Wednesday the 6th, in stage 11, a new finish uphill, with the finish in Laguna Negra, a first-class port with a 6.5-kilometre climb at 6.8%. In stage 12, another flat day ends in Zaragoza, which will serve as a ‘rest’ before the very hard day on Friday.

On September 8, the peloton enters France to face the ascent to the mythical Tourmalet, the Pyrenean summit will be the end of a very tough stage that will start from Formigal and for 135 kilometers it will add more than 4000 meters of accumulated unevenness, they will climb the Col d’ Aubisque in a special category (16.5 km at 7.1%), the Col d’Spandelles, first class (10.3km at 8.3%), until the end in the alpine colossus, in a special category with 18.8 km at 7.4% and at 2115 meters, the highest finish of this edition.

Accumulated wear and tear may be a factor in stage 14, the second through French lands, with 156 kilometers, starting at Sauveterre-de-Béarn and ending at the Port of Belagua, first category (9.5km at 6.3% ), it will be a favorable stage for distant attacks between the ‘roosters’ of the general classification, with the intermediate ascents to two special category climbs, the Col de Hourceré (11.1km at 8.7%) and the unprecedented Larrau (14, 9km at 8%).

THE ANGLIRU IN THE LAST DAY

Prior to the last rest day, the peloton will face a stage similar to the typical classics of the Basque Country, starting in Pamplona and ending in Lekunberri, after 158 km of broken terrain. On Tuesday the competition will return at the start of the last week, with a completely flat stage until the end, in the wall of Bejes, of 4.8 km at 8.8%.

In stage 17 the great colossus of the Spanish mountains arrives, the Alto del Angliru, in a special category (12.4 km at 9.8%), but before the brutal final climb, the riders will have to deal with two mountain passes first category, Alto de la Colladiella (7.8 km at 7.1%) and Alto del Cordal (5.4 km at 9.2%), all this in just 124 kilometres.

The last hilltop finish of the Vuelta will come on day 18, with the second Asturian peak that hosts a finish in this edition, the top of the Cruz de Linares, first category (8.3 km at 8.6%), but it will not be the only ascent of the day, since in the 178.9 kilometers since the caravan leaves Pola de Allande, they will have to deal with the Alta de las Estacas (2nd.5.1km at 7.5%), the Puerto de San Lorenzo (1st, 9.9 km at 8.6%) and the explosive Alto de Tenebredo (3.4 km at 9.5%).

The penultimate stage will be between La Bañeza and Íscar, exactly 177.1 kilometers completely flat, in which the sprinter teams will have to deal with accumulated wear and tear and leaks to force a massive arrival, in one of the most profound options for this, together with the final day.

In the event that the race arrives open to the penultimate day, the general runners will have 208 kilometers between Manzanares El Real and the Sierra de Guadarrama, with more than 4,000 meters of unevenness, without steep ascents, but with up to 10 third-class ports. category, in a route more typical of a classic than a grand tour.

The final touch to the 78th edition of the Vuelta España will be 66 kilometers between the Hipódromo de la Zarzuela and the city of Madrid, which will be a party to crown the winner of the race and a dispute between the sprinters to get the last victory partial.

2023-08-25 19:35:32
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