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Especially the amount of Unipuerto stages is to big again. Especially, the stages to Laguna Negra and Bejes are really disappointing as you can create seguinces of 3 a 4 cols easily without any flat. 4 MTF in the first week is to much. I can live with the first one in Andorra. But especially one of the Jalavlambre or caravaca de la cruz, should have been a medium mountain stage/ murito stage, without MTF.
The Guadarrama stage is hard and 200+, something different at least. But percentages of the climbs are quite low. Linares better than expected. Something 'semi' long range possible. Tourmalet on paper recently difficult, but a bit of a worse copy paste stage from last tour. Stage over Larrau is really nice.
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if GC is still open, and the team of the leader is not super strong, a lot is possible. But the percentages of the climbs seems not to great.
I love when people in the one post complain about Uniperto stages then state four MT finishes in the first week is too much.
The Vuelta usually provides the best course designs of GT's and this is one of the better routes.
The Vuelta usually provides the best course designs of GT's and this is one of the better routes.
Reckon stage 20 is a well designed route - Ten category 3 climbs in a 208km stage could do damage in the peleton - It's a different type of design but one that could work.
It's an excellent route for Mas - Lots of discussion about third place in the 2023 TDF BUT if Mas brings 2022 Vuelta level then he has third place wrapped up in the 2023 TDF.
If this was the 2022 route, Remco would not be on the podium
it's a bit of taste. 4 MTF in one week is just repeating the same thing 4 times in the same week, with all 4 stages reasonable easy to control till the last climb. I just prefere some variation in that case indeed.
We can go cry about Unipuerto but that's just Vuelta gonna Vuelta, but the big mountain stages deliver and stage 20 is *** awesome.
- Stage 1 I wish was an ITT
- Barcelona is fine
- Arinsal is very good for a stage 3
- Stage 4-5 worthless flat stages but 2 and 3 are good
- Jalavambre is a decent pick for Unipuerto
- 7 is WFS
- Xorret de Cati is fine for a stage 8 like stage
- Stage 9 is very underwhelming for the end of week 1, but it's not like the 1st week overall is weak
- Stage 10 is the main problem - with this route it should be 40km at least. Probably more like 45.
- Laguna Negra is very mid at this stage in the race. I don't mind 1 or maybe 2 earliesh on but this is turning into too many.
- 12 is WFS
- Didn't like cutting Portalet, but adding Spandelles is a bery, bery nice sorpresa, especially with the day that comes after Tourmalet
- Larra Belagua is a great design. Literally the best 1-2 stage combo I remember in the Vuelta
- Stage 15 is weak. I don't think cutting Aralar is a disaster, but that clibm looks to be under 5% average and that's not gonna get it done
- Bejes is like the 2nd weak Unipuerto too many. At least it's not a sprint
- Angliru is Angliru. Doesn't really matter what you do with it., unless you go to really insulting stage distance. The important part of Angliru is to put it before the other mountain stage
- Stage 18 is not some Giro style tappone but it's good enough here considering attacking the first time up Cruz Linares should be pretty viable at this stage of the race
- Stage 19 is WFS unless wind
- Stage 20 is ballsy. I love it. And I love it a lot more than say stage 20 of the Tour where it's just a very mid Cat1/Cat1 combo
Don't let toby read this
we can only hope stage 20 delivers and the idea will be copied
Positives:
- The main mountain stages are very good overall. Not a fan of Angliru (and it's also the second pointlessly short mountain stage in a row after Bejes), but double Cruz de Linares is perfectly fine as a final high mountain stage and the main Pyrenean block is one of the best sets of back-to-back mountain stages Unipublic has ever done, if not the best.
- Stage 20 is really cool, there are some cool walls they could have put mid-stage but a 200k sawtooth stage with TEN KOMs as the final GC day is something we've never seen before. Could come to nothing, could be a stage for the ages.
- Order of mountain stages is consistently done well, that's a rarity
- Mountain stages are spread almost perfectly across the three weeks. Would have liked the ITT a little later but that's a minor thing
- Aside from the parade, every weekend stage is at least somewhat interesting, of course especially stage 14 and 20
- Not enough ITT kilometres. Just changing the TTT to an ITT would have helped a lot, also because, you know, it gets rid of the TTT.
- Ten MTFs is excessive and Unipublic realise this, hence why they've gone out of their way to minimise the impact of Laguna Negra and Bejes in particular. At that point, you should cut a couple of MTFs and throw in a hilly/mid-mountain stage if you want some potential GC action, and a breakaway day that will have a longer finale if you don't.
- Variety is somewhat lacking as a result - no real descent finishes, only one hilly stage, only one mid-mountain stage
- Three sprints in four days in week 1 is not ideal, although thankfully none of them are on weekends
Yeah, not that bad for a Vuelta route. Stage 14 is nice after stage 13 and I like stage 18 and stage 20 is potentially pretty awesome, Vuelta teams are usually not that suffocating when it comes to their firepower (insert footage of Froome and Poels dropping everyone on the Angliru while holding hands).
The good is very good; and the bad is very bad. There's no in between.
Having the monster MTFs as the first of two major mountain stages in a row is a positive.
Stage 20 has me doubtful. The hardest climb s the last one by far. Everything else is mostly 5%-6% max gradient.
25km ITT has Purito complaining to Guillén in the backroom.
The first two MTFs may clear the field of contenders a bit too much if they show up in questionable form.
Just another positive observation: Cruz de Linares x2 comes with this after San Lorenzo. A sequence of Tenebredo-Cruz de Linares-Tenebredo and a finish at Oviedo would have been even better.
Having the monster MTFs as the first of two major mountain stages in a row is a positive.
Stage 20 has me doubtful. The hardest climb s the last one by far. Everything else is mostly 5%-6% max gradient.
25km ITT has Purito complaining to Guillén in the backroom.
The first two MTFs may clear the field of contenders a bit too much if they show up in questionable form.
Just another positive observation: Cruz de Linares x2 comes with this after San Lorenzo. A sequence of Tenebredo-Cruz de Linares-Tenebredo and a finish at Oviedo would have been even better.
Yeah stage 20 could underwhelm and it's the sort of stage where details can be very specific like if climbs are all 5-6% or there's no real ramps then it can be problematic.
Other scenarios could be that it breaks off so much and races so much like a classic moves can go and split even on the flat.
Cruz Verde (first time):
Cruz Verde (second time):
La Escondida:
Santa María de la Alameda:
Robledondo:
Last climb: from km1 to km5 on this profile from PRC:
Cruz Verde (second time):
La Escondida:
Santa María de la Alameda:
Robledondo:
Last climb: from km1 to km5 on this profile from PRC:
Stage 20, especially this late in the race, could be carnage. But it could also be a dud. Riders like Carapaz, Evenepoel or Pogacar in case they are on the startlist and need to avance in GC, could turn this into guerilla warfare. But in absence of such riders, i don't see riders as Carthy or Bardet fire up the race 100k to go succesfully and this could turn into a snoozefest.
So there's some places to try and in the very worst case the final climb has a murito km.Cruz Verde (first time):
Cruz Verde (second time):
La Escondida:
Santa María de la Alameda:
Robledondo:
Last climb: from km1 to km5 on this profile from PRC:
Roglic will come after crashing out of both Giro and Tour and everyone will know that 2nd is the biggest prize in the game.
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