The Vuelta’s started with a bang and we’re back to “tapas cycling” where there’s often a tasty morsel every day. It’s the most unpredictable of grand tours and this year’s route should spice things up a touch more as in recent years they’ve often ridden straight to the foot of the day’s summit finish, this time there’s more climbing in advance of the final climb. And yes the Vuelta has an official beer this year.
Glance at the startlist and it’s part stellar, part nebula with a handful of teams coming with serious GC ambitions and others, well they’ve not exactly had a plan in place all year. It’s part of the race’s charm with plenty of surprises ahead for the next three weeks.
Simon Yates leads on the Coll de la Rabassa, he’s been in the race lead for almost half the race but only with a handful of seconds on his rivals, now he’s turning this into minutes.
97km and almost 4,000 vertical metres, today’s stage has a y-axis of evil with more hairpins than a Broadway dressing room.
A short stage with a summit finish of sorts, selective enough to eject the sprinters but ideal for Alejandro Valverde to go for the time bonus although the breakaway hunters will
A rampon to the balcon, today’s stage features one of the longest climbs in the Basque Country with the finish at the Balcon de Bizkaia on the flanks of Monte Oiz.
Television is the driving force behind pro racing today and course design reflects this. The Vuelta is an interesting example because of the trend for uphill finishes. This year’s race has 11 of them.
