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2020 Vuelta rumors

Aaaight. Thought there was a thread for this, but couldn't find it.

So we know it starts in Utrecht, NL, making it the first city to host the start of all Grand Tours. They'll spend 3 days in the Netherlands and they look like this

Stage 1: Utrecht - Utrecht 23.7 km TTT
Stage 2: Den Bosch - Utrecht 183 km
Stage 3: Breda - Breda 194 km

Stage 2 will go through the Utrecht hill ridge, which means it will be the 2nd flattest Vuelta stage after the 3rd Dutch stage but it will probably be an excuse to hand out a KoM jersey.

Stage 3 will be confined to the province of Noord-Brabant. You can get somewhat close to the coast but they won't, which means echelon action is unlikely.

Now that the excitement is undoubtedly killing you guys, let's talk about the rest of the Vuelta. What's the rumors? What are we hoping for?

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say we'll get Covadonga
 
I'll take your word and kill the excitement. :p

According to Guillén the route is already done. We'll probably be short on leaks as last year. The rumour is that in a year with Olympics and Worlds for climbers the Vuelta route will be dissapointing.

There's a web site with details of the first three stages
 
But where's the disappointment rumor coming from?
Spanish forum pundits based on the 2018 route, which IMHO has been the worst since 2012.

Then there are old news (from February) about a bid for a MTF at a climb with name starting with C but not Covadonga.
 
Yeah 2018 was indeed the worst.

Actually I think 2012 wasnt the most ridiculous of the decade though. I thought 2013 and 2016 were worse or at least had much worse balance.

I'm kinda surprised of all the crazy climbs introduced over the years it's La Camperona that became the regular one. Must have a bet how long it will take for the GC group to win there.

Would love to see one of Cuitu Negru, Ancares or Hazallanas back. Last 2 Vuelta's were kinda lacking for hard 30 minute+ climbs.
 
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Other stages

3 stages in Galicia (Itt with Ezaro, one stage in Ourense (Maybe Luintra again) and a stage finish in Ancares
Probably a stage finish in Lagos de Covadonga and La Farrapona
 
While everyone is watching the Giro presentation...

After the opening Dutch stages the Vuelta will resume with two days in the Basque Country. I see contradicting reports. Two Basque local news sites report that stage 4 will be between Irún and Arrate (probably similar finish to the Itzulia stage of this year) and stage 5 between Vitoria and Valdegovía.
No source mentions it but Valdegovía is 18km from the summit of Orduña (8km @ 7.5%), one of the classic Vuelta climbs from the '50s-'70s era when the race was organised by a Basque newspaper.
Then, As.com announces stage 4 at Arrate and stage 5 between Eibar and Pamplona. Who knows if they got this from the same 'source' they got the Tour route.
 
While everyone is watching the Giro presentation...

After the opening Dutch stages the Vuelta will resume with two days in the Basque Country. I see contradicting reports. Two Basque local news sites report that stage 4 will be between Irún and Arrate (probably similar finish to the Itzulia stage of this year) and stage 5 between Vitoria and Valdegovía.
No source mentions it but Valdegovía is 18km from the summit of Orduña (8km @ 7.5%), one of the classic Vuelta climbs from the '50s-'70s era when the race was organised by a Basque newspaper.
Then, As.com announces stage 4 at Arrate and stage 5 between Eibar and Pamplona. Who knows if they got this from the same 'source' they got the Tour route.
I forgot if AS was correct or fos about the Tour route?

Anyway, Basque Country is the perfect place to send the Vuelta to after a few dreary days in Rickland.
 
Breda stage to depart from inside a church?



This one is interesting: a stage finish in Lekunberri (Navarra) just 17km after San Miguel de Aralar.
SMAralar.gif

 
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They're just passing through one shortly during the neutralised zone. They're not starting there but they'll have to walk through it if I understand correctly.

All in all it sounds really dumb to me.

That's what it sounds like to me as well. IMO, not one of the smarter decisions I've seen. I'm guessing this means all vehicles will start following after they go through this church? Sounds like more of a headache than anything else.
 
Re-reading the article about the Lekunberri stage I see that the stage from Vitoria to Valdegovía will be in the second week (!). So it seems that after Arrate they go East (as suggested by As.com) and then they come back West after the rest day before the second week.

Then they will have a stage in Cantabria between Castro-Urdiales and Suances.
 
3 stages in Netherlands
Irun - Arrate
Eibar - Pamplona
Pamplona - Lekumberri (with San Miguel de Aralar)
Finish in Laguna Negra de Urbion (possibly)
Finish in Valdegovia
Castro Urdiales - Suances
Somewhere in Cantabria - Lagos de Covadonga
Villaviciosa or Cangas de Onis - La Farrapona
¿Cangas del Narcea? - Ancares
Itt with Ezaro
Stage in Ourense
 
3 stages in Netherlands
Rest day (Monday)
Irun - Arrate
Eibar - Pamplona
Pamplona - Lekumberri (with San Miguel de Aralar)
Finish in Laguna Negra de Urbion (possibly)
Finish in Valdegovia
Castro Urdiales - Suances
Wonderful weekend stages :rolleyes:
Somewhere in Cantabria - Lagos de Covadonga
Villaviciosa or Cangas de Onis - La Farrapona
¿Cangas del Narcea? - Ancares
That's three mountain stages in a row in the middle of the week
Itt with Ezaro
Stage in Ourense



I think we're still missing something because that schedule is hard to believe.
 
Ancares from the north? Could be the same road as in 2014 which is pretty much the hardest MTF in the Vuelta apart from the Angliru.

Hope they don't go too simple overall with just having every mountain stage be a MTF. Would hope Mirador de Ezaro isn't in the ITT, but if it is, definitely prefer if it's the only climb on an otherwise rolling route of at least 35km.
 
Given what signs Guillen has given, Valdegovia and Suances will probably be Stage 12 and 13, with three mountain stages afterwards (Camperona, Covadonga, Farrapona?), before the final rest day and then the finale in Galicia, with Ancares on Stage 20 before the Madrid parade. They'll probably go to the Pyrenees, or perhaps Teruel/Valencia, for a mountain stage in the second weekend, and completely skip the south like in 2012 and 2016, then, but there's a gap between the sets of Basque stages in terms of rumours. I was kinda expecting Villuercas given that it's been reasphalted, but it doesn't fit in the rumoured route.
 
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The Ancares rumour is around every year. Two years a go it was a fake rumour spread by a forum troll. Last year it was allegedly dropped because it didn't fit in the route with the two mountain stages in Asturias. So I won't believe it until I see it in the news.

Hope they don't go too simple overall with just having every mountain stage be a MTF. Would hope Mirador de Ezaro isn't in the ITT, but if it is, definitely prefer if it's the only climb on an otherwise rolling route of at least 35km.

We already know the finish in Lekunberri after S.Miguel de Aralar. That's the climb where Aru took his first Vuelta stage win in 2014 ahead of the three amigos and Froome, who did a superb (IIRC his first) yo-yo show.
And there's also the rumour that Unipublic has taken positive notes of how well the last two mountain stages this year did work.
 
The Ancares rumour is around every year. Two years a go it was a fake rumour spread by a forum troll. Last year it was allegedly dropped because it didn't fit in the route with the two mountain stages in Asturias. So I won't believe it until I see it in the news.



We already know the finish in Lekunberri after S.Miguel de Aralar. That's the climb where Aru took his first Vuelta stage win in 2014 ahead of the three amigos and Froome, who did a superb (IIRC his first) yo-yo show.
And there's also the rumour that Unipublic has taken positive notes of how well the last two mountain stages this year did work.
I remember Aralar. How far from the finish would that be? Typical descent finish?
 

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