The proposed Asturian stages are a dumpster fire.
Stage 4 doesn't look too bad - plus a couple of features I like: 1) Arrate given the correct appropriate categorization, and 2) Karabieta leading directly into it, which bizarrely is never even used in País Vasco as they always seem to like climbing Karabieta north. Would have liked to see Etxauri in stage 5, but that's generally a pretty well designed stage with a descent finish coming off the back of the opening MTF, so thumbs up for this. Unfortunately it's followed by a terrible mountain stage which overcategorises the MTF and doesn't use any of the not-spectacular-but-at-least-ok lead-in opportunities. As PRC shows,
much more can be done with Urbión.
Quite a lot more.
Stage 9 can die in a house fire. Aubisque AND Tourmalet - as an MTF - in a sub-140km stage, and emerging from their July homes to infect other races too? You may as well spit in my face. I could not possibly be less enthusiastic about a "queen stage". PS, if any race organiser tries to claim a stage less than 150km long to be a "queen stage", they should instantly be allowed to be pelted with fruit by cycling fans and personally slapped in the face for one final moment of humiliation by Angelo Zomegnan.
Stage 10 is a very stupid design but a good finale. Then we have another not-as-good-as-it-could-have-been stage to Moncalvillo, before two flat stages, then the dumpster fire of a weekend in Asturias, with a 109km Angliru stage. At least swap them round and create the pretence that something will happen on La Farrapona, you know? Every time they use it, they neuter it by putting Angliru the next day. The rest of week 3 is pretty meh, but at least they've gone back to trying to do something with La Covatilla.