11. Collado de Sahún (Aragón)
The vision from the future
Here we are once more pushing the boundaries of what's acceptable, at least at present, but it shouldn't be long before the Vuelta has the chance to tackle these slopes. Though the Collado de Sahún is currently only partially paved, the project to fill it with shiny new tarmac as the Vuelta seeks to appease it's sworn enemy, Bavarianrider, continues apace. This will be excellent, because right here we have a climb that hits all the buttons to be a classic.
This epic pass, which links the town of Castejón de Sos to the Valle de Gistaín, can be approached from either side, because neither one is easy. The official
Puerto de Sahún is at 1999m and overlooks the spectacular
Barranco Llisat, but the actual highest point on the road is a little above that, at 2020m. As the Vuelta doesn't go over 2000m often, this kind of altitude is always worth considering for its impact even before we get to the gradients.
From Castejón de Sos, the ascent to the Collado de Sahún is
16,1km @ 7,0%. At present, this is perhaps the only realistic way to put a finish at the Collado de Sahún; there is a
widening out at the summit, and the final kilometre would be on
hormigón, so it would not be totally impossible to finish on such a climb. The climb starts off with difficulty immediately, the second kilometre averaging over 10%, before we give way to some more typical climbing terrain with
difficult lacets heading into the village of Chía. After passing the Puente Santa Julià, 5km into the climb, the tarmac stops and the vistas change from hidden away in the valley lacets to broad, beautiful brushstrokes of sky and mountain.
Now the road starts turning to Finestre-like, coarse sterrato. The riders will have to force themselves forwards, with the surface not helping them one iota, as after a kilometre or so to warm themselves up we then get 5km averaging nearly 9%, with the steepest kilometre being at 9,4% and slopes getting to 16%, on a surface which is
not quite the pristine tarmac it is expected to be in the future.
As the road starts to ease up, we get some more reliable surface at the approach to the summit, which the riders will no doubt be thankful for as the final kilometre from this southeastern side is easy compared to the prior torment.
From the west, though, the climb is a different beast. In total it is
25,2km @ 4,9%, although this is in two distinct climbs linked by false flat. The first part of the climb is false flat on the valley roads before 2km at 8%; there are then six more kilometres of false flat leading into the picturesque village of
Plan; after that, the riders turn left off of the A-2609, cross a river, and then the real climb comes;
12,2km @ 7,5% follows, of which the stretch from 9km out to just under 1km from the summit alternates between unpaved stretches and hormigón. A stretch such as
this one is one of the more desirable stretches, however towards the top we do once more get
perfectly good tarmac. Nevertheless, as the Valle de Benasque and Valle de Gistaín seek to improve communications and access between one another the repaving of the road should hopefully provide us with a usable cycling road before long, and then it really ought to be nothing more than a matter of time before the Vuelta comes calling.
The paving of the Collado de Sahún will also add possibilities for the Vuelta's visits to France. The connection to the never-used
Puerto de Bielsa, with its lengthy tunnel summit, opens up options. Climbing the southeast side of Sahún, one could descent to Plan, climb the Spanish side of Bielsa (21,2km @ 4,8%, but the last 9km at 6,7% and including a stretch of 2km at 9,7%) then finish at Piau-Engaly, or descend to Saint-Laury-Soulan and finish at Pla d'Adet. Alternatively, my preferred option, there could be Azet or something similar to begin with, then the north (French) side of Bielsa (19,2km @ 5,2%, cat.1) before then climbing the Collado de Sahún via Plan, descending into Castejón de Sos and then (jens_attacks, you can thank me later) passing the
Cascada de Aigualluts and entering Benasque, where the riders can finish the stage in the traditional Vuelta hunting ground of Cerler-Ampriu, for a final climb of
11,8km @ 6,1%. If we were to do this, the summit of the Collado de Sahún would be around 45km from the finish. The other option would be
Baños de Panticosa, but this doesn't bring Sahún any closer to the finish, and Cerler has more money and more interest in hosting La Vuelta...
Not coming from France, the preceding climbs are harder to find; the most logical would be
Fanlo, from the West, 11km @ 4,7%, probably cat.2. Approaching via Castejón de Sos, so climbing the southeast side of the Collado de Sahún, the toughest lead-in climb is probably
Laspaúles (8,3km, 5,4%, cat.2) which leads into the either cat.3 or uncategorised Coll de Fadas (3,9km @ 3,7%), then 11km descent straight into the base of our 16km semi-paved hellbeast. At the moment it is only realistic to imagine a finish at Sahún, from Castejón, probably in a stage similar to those that went to Cerler.
However, for the future, the most realistic options are perhaps Cerler-Ampriu after Sahún west, or a finish either in Bielsa or, perhaps better, after a period of uphill false flat à la Aprica, at the
Parador del Valle de la Pineta-Monte Perdido.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram