Cycling Weekly – August 22, 2019

Cycling Weekly | August 22, 2019 | 25

STAGES

A nother very straightforward sprint stage by Vuelta

standards: starting and finishing on the coastal plain,

with just the one climb along the way. A mainstay for

cyclists in nearby Valencia, the third-category

Puerto del Oronet (notice how the vertically-inclined

Vuelta doesn’t bother with a fourth category?) sits in the

pretty Serra Calderona mountains. It last appeared in the

Vuelta in 2017 when Darwin Atapuma, now at Cofidis, was

the first over the top. He's set to be riding again this year.

This area, once famed for the bandits who hid in its

caves, is home to one of Spain’s most celebrated olive oils.

Many riders will be familiar with the roads on today ’s stage.

As well as regularly featuring in the Vuelta, this part of Spain’s

Mediterranean coast vies with Mallorca as the go-to pre-sea-

son training camp destination. A fter a jaunt into the hills of

the A licante hinterland, the race will drop through the finish

town of Calpe before embarking on a 44km finishing loop.

The key feature on this circuit is the second-category climb of

the A lto de Puig Llorença.

A lthough almost certain to see some sort-out amongst

those hoping to contest the stage, this passage skips the dead-

end summit road and offers potential for regrouping on 24km

of fast, wide roads back down to the coast.

A hill-top village of just a few hundred inhabitants

provides the scenic backdrop for the finish of this long stage.

Again, some early climbing offers would-be escapees an

initial launchpad, while a couple more third-cat climbs

should provide the sort-out as the stage spirals in towards

its conclusion.

While the final ascent up to A res del Maestrat is not

difficult in itself, its 11km of five per cent should be plenty

hard enough to find a deserving stage winner. It will be pretty

too, with its gothic town hall, neoclassical parish church and

Mola castle.

Three days in, the Vuelta’s already tying itself in knots with
a lasso-shaped stage that takes place midway between the
previous two. But the Vuelta has always had a play ful take
on route planning, emphasised by stage three’s start in a
city famous for its toy museum. Yet this looks like one of the
Vuelta’s more straightforward stages to predict.
There are a couple of third-cat climbs along the way, but
expect racing to conclude with a full-blown gallop in the home
town of A rkano. Home town of who? You know, A rkano, the
artist behind this year’s official Vuelta song, and the race’s
first foray into rap.

It is the eighth time in nine years that the Vuelta has opened
with a team time trial. Like a transition between zones of
The Crystal Maze, this one will see teams dash from the
enchantingly hued water and mineral pyramids of Torrevieja’s
salt lagoons, past the Medieval watchtower that gives this
Costa Blanca seaside town it ’s name, to finish amid the
industrial facilities of its port.
Predominantly on urban streets, the route is as good as pan
flat. Whether R ichard O'Brien is going to be handing out the
flowers or not we're not sure, but given the heat on the Costa
Blanca at this time of year is often at A ztec levels, the chances
of riders begging them to "start the fans" is high.

The race should open up a little as it climbs deep into
the Spanish wilds and finishes almost 2 ,000m up at an
observatory. This new ascent for the Vuelta was still partially
unsurfaced earlier this year and climbs an uninhabited and
exposed mountain that is ominously named after the local
vulture population. There may be some ambitions for their
picking at the top.
But with the GC race still in its formative phase, it ’s
probably a good day for ambitious breakaway riders with
dreams of a high-summit victory. From the off, there’s 40km
of climbing to help establish a move.

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TUESDAY AUGUST 27

CULLERA>EL PUIG |

175 .5KM | FLAT

MONDAY AUGUST 26

IBI. CIUDAD DEL

JUGUETE>ALICANTE |

188 KM | FLAT

SUNDAY AUGUST 25

BENIDORM>CALPE |

19 9.6KM | HILLY

SATURDAY AUGUST 24

SALINAS DE

TORREVIEJA>TORREVIEJA |

13 .4KM | TEAM TIME TRIAL

THURSDAY AUGUST 29

MORA DE RUBIELOS>ARES DEL

MAESTRAT | 19 8 .9KM | HILLY

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 28

L’ELIANA>OBSERVATORIO

ASTROFÍSICO DE JAVALAMBRE

| 170 .7KM | MOUNTAIN

STAGES