The Spin: Vuelta Stage 9

A downhill run to the fine city of Barcelona, today’s stage looks like a long freewheel from the Pyrenees to the Mediterrean. Only the finish includes the tricky climb of Montjuic followed by a descent and then an uphill sprint which should offer some excitement. Breakaway or bunch sprint?

The Route: a downhill start – the first part is neutralised – and then on to the Collada de Clara, 6.4km at a gentle 5.4km. If a breakaway hasn’t gone clear by this time, the short climb should reward attackers with the chance to get away. But the open roads all the way to Barcelona offer the chasers an easier time, at least until the race enters Barcelona.

The Finish: a great finish awaits. As the profile shows the climb to the Montjuic park is 1.1km long at 8.1%, enough to eject the sprinters if the pace is high, or at least to send them backwards 100 places and possibly the wrong side of a split in the bunch. There’s no chance to recover over the top, if the profile above suggests a nice ramp downhill to the flamme rouge with 1km to go, think again.

Note the twists and turns during the last three kilometres. The final kilometre is uphill but the slope eases for the final 450m to the finish, outside the 1992 Olympic stadium.

The Scenario: break or bunch sprint? I think it’ll be a bunch sprint because several strong teams will want to set this up. Katusha will want to help local leader Joaquim Rodriguez and their uphill sprint specialist Dani Moreno. Lotto-Belisol have a perfect finish for Gianni Meersman, he won a tactical uphill finish in Rodez in Paris-Nice. And don’t forget John Degenkolb, the chunky German sprinter’s first win in the big league was an uphill sprint win in the Dauphiné, on top of Lyon’s Croix Rousse. It all makes for a tactical finish with riders needing to be in position and well supported, to be at the front with 5km to go but never in the wind and only to pop out for the sprint with 250m.

Weather: cooler conditions with only 28ºC in Barcelona and the chance of a rain shower. If it is wet the final could become fiendish.

TV: the same as usual, 4.00-6.00pm with the finish expected from 5.25pm onwards but yesterday’s stage was a reminder that these schedules are indicative as the race swept into Andorra almost an hour up on the fastest predicted time.

Local Rider: Joaquim Rodriguez. He was born just 20km north of the Catalan capital in Parets del Vallès.

Rest? Monday is a rest day but as soon as the stage is finished the riders go to the airport and fly across the north of Spain to Pontevedra. This means a late night. Riders must cross the line, get washed and changed, then have something to eat, reach the airport and then wait for everyone to show up before the plane finally takes off then they must land and get transport to the hotel. The Spanish eat their evening meal later than anyone else in Europe and the riders might not be too happy to share this custom later today.

10 thoughts on “The Spin: Vuelta Stage 9”

  1. Another wink at a defunct race, this time the always spectacular “Escalada a Montjuic” (“Montjuic climb”), a one-day double-sector (hilly crit + hilly TT) that, until 2007, used to close the Spanish calendar. Merckx won it a record 6 times. It was also the first pro victory for Purito, and the last winner was Dani Moreno (on whom I’d bet for today).

    • This is the map of the circuit of the extinct Escalada a Montjuic
      http://personales.ya.com/ecbarcelonaweb/imagenes/Mapa%20Escalada%202007.jpg

      It’s a 5km circuit. It was raced five times in the crit, and only twice in the TT. Very short and punchy, with almost no flat terrain. Today’s quite similar, but with some differences. Cyclist get into Montjuic through Passeig de Santa Madrona and climb to the Alt del Castell from Avinguda Miramar. I think that it means a longer climb to the castle, compared to the Escalada circuit, although the hardest part (carretera de Montjuic and Avinguda del Castell) is the same.

      The the descent is quite longer, in order to find the way to the Avinguda del Estadi, which is the most scenic (and widest) road for a finish line in Montjuich mountain. It passes through Estadi Olimpic, Palau Sant Jordi, Bernat Picornell swimmingpool, the Communications Tower and some other Barcelona Olympics benchmarks. Escalada used to finish in the narrower Passeig Olimpic, on the south side of the stadium.

      Now I can’t find any detailed map of the 2009 Tour Stage that also finished in Barcelona, only this profile http://www.letour.fr/2009/TDF/LIVE/us/600/etape_par_etape.html

      Despite the finish line is located in the same place, Tour and Vuelta stages have almost nothing in common. The french race was really softer. Cyclist also got into Monjuich from Plaça d’Espanya but then they turned right to Avinguda Marquès de Comillas. There they found a short, lonesome ramp (500m, 6,6%) that got them to Avinguda del Estadi, where the same slightly uphill finish than today’s Vuelta Stage was waiting. In 2009 there was no punchy ramps to the Castle and no tricky descents before the finish, which was more suited to the sprinters.

      That stage was won by Thor Hushovd, who beat Freire and Rojas in a mass sprint. Last meters are quite similar to the 2010 Road World Championship finish line, also won by the Norwegian. Pozzato tried to jump in the last ramp but it wasn’t simply harder enough to break the bunch, although at least cyclist like Cavendish were dropped. I’m sure that today it will be quite different, I think it will be impossible to see a massive sprint. The stage suits perfectly to Philippe Gilbert, if only he wasn’t a shadow of his former self.

      Monjuic roads could be a perfect circuit for a Road World Championship. They’ve got all you need for a good cycling race. I hope today will be pretty exciting too!

  3. INRNG:
    Any interest in commentary/analysis on the Colorado Pro Challenge race with overall victory by VandeVelde? Riders of impressive caliber participated. Liggett and Sherwin on hand to comment live on most stages.

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