Official website of La Vuelta
www.lavuelta.es
La Vuelta is one of the leading cycling races in the international calendar. 21 stages, three weeks of competition between August and September, and more than 3,000 km covering the Spanish geography, and from other countries such as Andorra, Belgium, Fran

The Tour of Spain (Vuelta a España) starts tomorrow Saturday. In Monaco…

As we can see on the general map, despite starting in France and its dependent principalities, most of the tour will happen in the South of Spain, which is rather unusual (I believe?). In fact, there is not a single mile of stage in the Spanish Pyrenees, their foothils, or the Cantabrian Range!

Riders

The coming of Pogatchar (🇸🇮 UAE) leaves little hope about the final victory to other riders (and spectators), unless something bad happens to him. Gall (🇦🇹 Decathlon) will try to get his second 2nd place in GC this year after the Tour of Italy. Will Skjelmose (🇩🇰 Lidl-Trek) and Carapaz (🇪🇨 EF) aim for the podium, after taking part in the Tour of France?

Therefore, most teams will aim for stage victories, and bring the personnel accordingly. Van Aert🇧🇪, Laporte🇫🇷, Brennan🇬🇧 and Kuss🇺🇸 for Visma! M. Pedersen🇩🇰 for Lidl-Trek. Bora brings Roglitch🇸🇮 for his vacation package.

The first 4 stages

Stage 1, Saturday 22: 🇲🇨Monaco🇲🇨

9,4 km, ITT

The distance is barely over the limit for a prologue, and they managed to avoid any sort of climb.

Stage 2, Sunday 23: 🇲🇨Monaco–Manosque🇫🇷

214 km, D+ 3000m

The first of the two French stages proposes a very hilly course, over a distance longer than any of the Tour de France stages this year. The finish may be (I don’t know) the same we often see on the Tour de la Provence in the beginning of the season, where it is usually won by sprinters who can handle punchy courses or strong uphill false-flat finishes.

Stage 3, Monday 24: 🇫🇷 Gruissan–Font Romeu🇫🇷

175 km, D+ 2600m

After a very long transfer along the French Mediterranean coast, this stage arrives already in the Pyrenees. Amusingly, the destination is basically the same as where the Tour de France entered France from Spain in July. Most of the approach is made of unbearable dozens of kilometres of a slightly then strongly uphill false-flat highway road. The final climb is pretty much the same.

Stage 4, Tuesday 25: 🇦🇩Andorra la Vieja–Andorra la Vieja🇦🇩

105 km, D+ 3000m

Familiar climbs with a finish at the bottom. The first half of the course consists of climbing the Envalira pass and coming back, which involves a lot of false-flat both ways. Riders better be ready for a direct, fast start over the uphill false-flat.

  • Deschanel2032OPM
    1·
    5 days ago

    Hmmm… Pogatchar could win all 4 stages if he wanted to. Stage #2 is probably the more involved, though, he would have to get rid of sprinters before the finish, and the needed effort is probably not worth it.

    • pet1t@piefed.socialEnglish
      2·
      4 days ago

      Van Aert already stated in an interview with Sporza that he targeted the red jersey for stage 2. Stage 1 is - as he said so himself, but could be bluffing - too technical for him, but he’ll try to get as close as possible and fly to victory in the second stage. Pogi said he’s also riding with the worlds in the back of his mind, so he’ll try to save as much energy as possible (although with Focaccia you never know what “conserving energy” means)

      • Deschanel2032OPM
        1·
        4 days ago

        Pogi said he’s also riding with the worlds in the back of his mind, so he’ll try to save as much energy as possible (although with Focaccia you never know what “conserving energy” means)

        Yes, however saving energy may also mean crushing competitors in the 1st week, and going easy after that. It might even be a better way to arrive not too tired at the following race(s), than to have to push hard in the last week of the Vuelta.

          • Deschanel2032OPM
            1·
            3 days ago

            There are 6/4/2 seconds to grab at the I.S. 36 km from the line, and of course 10/6/4 seconds at the finish.

            There are a number of more or less likely candidates to take the Red jersey today (2nd stage):

            • Hayter (🇬🇧 Soudal-QS) went into the 4-man breakaway, he needs only 1 second;
            • Laporte (🇫🇷 Visma) needs 7 seconds, he might get them though a 2nd or 3rd place at the finish and a 3rd or 2nd place at the I.S.;
            • Van Aert (🇧🇪 Visma again) needs 10 seconds, he may get them though a 2nd or 3rd place at the finish and a 3rd or 2nd place at the I.S.;
            • M. Pedersen (🇩🇰 Lidl-trek) needs 17 seconds, he might get them though winning the stage and and a making place at the I.S. and creating somewhere in the peloton a large enough split (unfortunately, I think that the 3-second rule applies today): he is pretty much doomed by 0,07 seconds, otherwise 16 seconds would have ‘sufficed’.