The race crosses into Andorra, the mountain principality that sits in the middle of the Pyrenees. A day for the climbers but with two contrasting climbs, one long and gradual before the sharp final climb of the Collada de la Gallina.
Vuelta
Vuelta Stage 13 Preview
Look at the profile above and the two climbs probably stand out. Now look closely at the finish for the little dot of red at the finish in Casteldefels. It’s a small uphill finish.
The Vuelta’s French Connection
It might be the Tour of Spain but there’s a French touch here. The event is owned by the French, a lot of the sponsors are French and this weekend the race crosses the Pyrenees for a French stage finish.
Vuelta Stage 12 Preview
Yesterday Tarazona, today Tarragona. It should be a sprint stage but this is conditional for reasons to be explained below.
Vuelta Stage 11 Preview
As the only solo time trial of the 2013 Vuelta this is a vital moment of the race. But this being the Vuelta it’s got a climb that rises over a thousand metres above sea level.
There are two races today, first to win the stage but second for the GC riders as several climbers can expect to lose time today.
Vuelta Stage 10 Preview
The first true mountain stage of Vuelta with a first category climb and then a very difficult summit finish. We’ve had plenty of exciting racing in the first week but the battle for the red jersey has only seen small scale skirmishes. Now it’s time to make a real selection in the race and eliminate some of the pretenders.
Vuelta Stage 9 Preview
Sunday’s stage finishes with the classic through Valdepeñas de Jaén. Just one kilometre long but a wall where the slope hits 27% and any rider who loses momentum will lose time on GC.
The Bulls of Spain
A reader once asked via twitter what was the Spanish equivalent of sunflowers at the Tour de France. Just as the Tour de France has pretty clichés of riders rolling past fields of sunflowers, for me the Vuelta a Espana has hilltop hoardings of the bovine kind.
There’s a story behind this. It starts with vino de Jerez, the fortified wine from the city of Jerez that’s known as sherry in English.
Vuelta Stage 8 Preview
When the race route was unveiled the consensus was this was a Vuelta of summit finishes. But so far this week things have been calm with several chances for the sprinters. All change now with the first true summit finish of the race.
The stage finishes with a hard climb but it’s likely to be selective it’s not going to be definitive as plenty more will happen over the next two weeks.
Vuelta Stage 7 Preview
This is the third of a trinity of flat stages for the sprinters before the climbers come out to play tomorrow. So far even the flat stages have been entertaining in the Vuelta, no more so than yesterday’s stage.