Vuelta 2013 route

[Lupetto]

Nah, it's that Unipublic noted that the mountains were producing smaller gaps.

So rather than make the mountain stages harder, to produce larger gaps, they decided to live with the smaller gaps, but do it on more stages.

Worse, fortunate circumstances regarding Valverde crashing out of GC contention at the Tour and Contador's ban led to all three of the top Spanish cyclists being at the Vuelta last year, the Sky ambush on Valverde in La Rioja and the race was successful, so they've decided that the template works and will continue to move in that direction. But remove even two of the three amigos, and look how paper thin the race starts to look. Take them all out and you're left with Gorka Verdugo and Tomasz Marczyński in the top 10, and Laurens Ten Dam in 5th.

They may be creating classic duels "on the mountain (singular)" but not "in the mountains (plural)" because they are all too often failing to make any more than the last climb meaningful.

Worse yet, they're actively trying to reduce difficulty in the rest of the stage to that end. And they are, all too often, choosing only mid-length climbs (Arrate, Gallina), easy climbs (Valdezcaray) or occasional real challenge climbs, but with all the hardest gradients at the very end thus ensuring most of the activity will only come in that last few kilometres (Cuitu Negru, Bola del Mundo). These climbs are all perfectly useful up to a point; Arrate and Valdezcaray used as they were last year were absolutely fine as part of an otherwise balanced route. The early mountaintop or two that opens up small gaps between contenders and separates the GC men from the boys like Arrate did is ideal, as it also ensures less jostling for position in upcoming flat stages with sprinters, leading to the many crashes we see at, say, the Tour, where the GC status quo isn't usually really organised until a week in.

As for gaps between mountains, here are a few ideas from the Race Design Thread:

Mont Caro x2
Karabieta - Ixua - Oiz - Urkiola - Bikotx-gane
Alisas - La Sía - Picón Blanco
Colladiella - Cobertoria - Cruz de Linares - Maravía - San Lorenzo
Honduras - Tornavacas - Tremedal - La Covatilla (compare to the anæmic 2011 stage to La Covatilla and the much better 2006 stage)
(all of the above from Another Dutch Guy)

Calar Alto - Venta Luisa - Velefique
Monachil - El Dornajo (El Dornajo is rumoured to be a finish in 2013, so hopefully at least Monachil will precede it. This is only a small taster of what could be done with the area around Sierra Nevada).
La Sía - Lunada - Caracol - Estranguada
San Lorenzo - Cobertoria W - Cobertoria E - Ermita de Alba (not sure how feasible an Ermita de Alba finish is, though I'm sure it's steep enough for Guillén to want to find a way. Even if it isn't, because of descending through Cobertoria N via Alto del Cordal, the double Cobertoria climb is feasible - they usually descend the side they would be climbing to the finish here)
Cabra Montés - Las Sabinas - Alguacil (again, something new to do with Sierra Nevada)
Conjuros - Haza del Lino x2 (you'll notice Haza del Lino a lot in fantasy routes. How it's never been in the Vuelta is beyond me, and most other fans)
Fonte da Cova - Llana de las Ovejas (with a small downhill finish to El Morredero, this again is a common double act in Vuelta designs, especially as Ponferrada (which would be at the base of the full length descent) and El Morredero both pay for the Vuelta comparatively frequently but a stage with serious climbs like this gets left off the agenda)
Port del Comte - Banyères - Cantò - Eviny - Port-Ainé
(those ones thanks to Descender)

García - Velefique - Calar Alto
Somiedo - Farrapona - Cobertoria - Cordal - la Vara - Monte Naranco
Jaizkibel - Erlaitz/Castillo del Inglés - Santa Ageda - Mandubia - Lizarrusti - San Miguel de Áralar (concreted and over 8%, I wouldn't be surprised to see San Miguel in the Vuelta soon. Unfortunately I'd expect a flat stage first, or if we're lucky something like Descender suggested with Etxauri and Lizarraga first)
Miserat - Tollos - Tudons - Benimantell - Font de Partagas (again, not sure that Font de Partagas could realistically host the race but it's steep enough and gimmicky enough that I'm sure Guillén would think about it if he could)
Tablones - Canseco - Haza del Lino - Conjuros
(those are mine. I also had a couple of other brutal mountain stages of connecting climbs but they were in Las Canarias so I won't include them)

Lagunas de Neila - las Viniegras - Urbión
Not sure what all of these climbs are without a map, but Fumanya-Pradell is tough enough on its own
Again, not sure what all of thse are without a map but there's lots of them back to back
Almendra - Calar Alto - Velefique - Calar Alto
(thanks to roundabout for those ones)

That's without looking at the options done for Catalunya by Craig, País Vasco by myself or any of the other areas of the country.

http://www.altimetrias.net should be able to while away quite some time realising just how incredible the Vuelta COULD be.

Or going for a new european record. Would love to see something like this.

Úbeda - Sª Nevada IRAM

http://plataformarecorridosciclistas.org/2012/10/09/la-vuelta-a-espana-de-los-parques-naturales/

 

[Descender]

Or going for a new european record. Would love to see something like this.

Úbeda - Sª Nevada IRAM

http://plataformarecorridosciclistas.org/2012/10/09/la-vuelta-a-espana-de-los-parques-naturales/

Instead, they're going to stop at km 152 of that and call it a day.

 

[Ferminal]

What stops them going over 2500m? At what point does the road to Veleta become unusable?

 

[Forunculo]

What stops them going over 2500m?

Keep the gaps close to the last day to create (artificial) tense

 

[apmfbs]

According to the magazine DLC, there will possibly be a new clim i the stage of Cantabria ( the previous one to Naranco) and Rabasa is possible before Canolich

http://www.revistadesdelacuneta.com/tengopagina.php?page=archivo0762

They also say that the stage of Angliru will be short and with many difficulties, so perhaps it will be even shorter and easier than the stage of 2011 ( Cabruñana, Tenebredo, Cordal, Angliru). It could be Cordal, Angliru and stop.

 

[Descender]

What stops them going over 2500m? At what point does the road to Veleta become unusable?

As Forunculo said, they're open about their intentions of preventing anything significant from happening until the last climb of the last stage.

In this interview, Olano used the word "sadly" when referring to the Fuente De stage.

http://www.eitb.tv/es/#/video/1847991764001

That proposed stage is a bit risky, though. There is a loop that should be long enough not to create any problems, but I doubt Unipublic would risk it. The roads used are not the Veleta one though, but rather the ones that lead to the Sierra Nevada ski resort and the last bit to the IRAM astronomical observatory. The Veleta road gets tricky at about 2,900 metres aprox. I think. In any case, there is no space at the top.

 

[Asturiano]

One more thing I would like to say, you want a stage which ends in the Cobertoria . The race will take long time to finish there, but there is a climb that is close to where it is known that there are more possibilities and is called the Gamoniteiru, a very tough climb


Again , sorry for my bad English !

Hola compatriota, aquí otro asturiano. No te preocupes por el inglés, tampoco el mio es académico.

ASTURIAS PATRIA QUERIDAAAAAAAAAA.

 

[Red Rick]

According to a local newspaper , The Naranco stage will be soft and the stage go along the coast. If the cyclists climb a mountain pass which is called the Violeo, it will be a success because the pass is short, hard (20% in some areas) and narrow. The descent is complicated and has many tricky corners. The Violeo is close to the Naranco .
It is an option and if the Vuelta does that would be great.

Me gusta

 

[Libertine Seguros]

According to the magazine DLC, there will possibly be a new clim i the stage of Cantabria ( the previous one to Naranco) and Rabasa is possible before Canolich

http://www.revistadesdelacuneta.com/tengopagina.php?page=archivo0762

They also say that the stage of Angliru will be short and with many difficulties, so perhaps it will be even shorter and easier than the stage of 2011 ( Cabruñana, Tenebredo, Cordal, Angliru). It could be Cordal, Angliru and stop.

A new climb in Cantabria? Anybody care to guess at La Estranguada or Bejes? Both would be 5-6km at 9% or so. Anyone know if there's enough room for a finish at La Capía?

 

[Red Rick]

Or going for a new european record. Would love to see something like this.

Úbeda - Sª Nevada IRAM

http://plataformarecorridosciclistas.org/2012/10/09/la-vuelta-a-espana-de-los-parques-naturales/

Add Monachil before the two climb and the Vuelta has a queen stage

 

[apmfbs]

A new climb in Cantabria? Anybody care to guess at La Estranguada or Bejes? Both would be 5-6km at 9% or so. Anyone know if there's enough room for a finish at La Capía?

It would be great having a stage with the last 95 kilometres like this:

Lunada, Caracol, Albionzo, Estranguada and Peña Cabarga.

The climb to Peña Cabarga would be far for Estranguada but it is a very good stage. I sign it at the moment.

In relation to la capia I don´t know anything about it, but the finish line is supposed to be in Peña Cabarga or Fuente De.

 

[Descender]

I don't think this aspect has been commented on at all, but Unipublic is taking its insanity to unseen levels these days. Not only do they get rid of all mountain passes that could trigger attacks before the riders can see the finish, but they're now not even climbing the final (and only) climbs of stages in their entirety. In this edition we'll watch the riders stop at km 7 of this climb again:

And we'll also witness a stage finish on km 17 of this:

And it's been reported today that Peñas Blancas will not be climbed to the top at Los Reales either. They'll stop at the Peñas Blancas pass. According to an Andalusian newspaper, Unipublic "did not want any significant gaps too early". As you see, they're not even sugarcoating their intentions anymore.

 

[Eshnar]

well I can't say I'm surprised.

 

[staubsauger]

Heij Big Phil! Wanna win a grand tour?

 

[apmfbs]

Finally good news, the stage of Haza Llana will have Monachil before the last climb.

 

[Eshnar]

Finally good news, the stage of Haza Llana will have Monachil before the last climb.

when is the presentation?

 

[Ferminal]

Nice, just a fast descent between them. Will that stage be in the first week?

 

[apmfbs]

when is the presentation?

The presentation is this Saturday 12th.

Ferminal, the stage will be the second Monday of the race, 2nd September. The last stage in Andalucia:

Saturday:........Peñas Blancas
Sunday...........Valdepeñas de Jaen
Monday..........Purche-Haza Llana

 

[Descender]

Ok so we will have something like this stage I designed, only finishing on top of Dornajo instead of descending to Granada-La Alhambra.

 

[Ferminal]

The presentation is this Saturday 12th.

Ferminal, the stage will be the second Monday of the race, 2nd September. The last stage in Andalucia:

Saturday:........Peñas Blancas
Sunday...........Valdepeñas de Jaen
Monday..........Purche-Haza Llana

Thanks... so Stages 8, 9 and 10, three consecutive uphill finishes.

 

[Descender]

Thanks... so Stages 8, 9 and 10, three consecutive uphill finishes.

That's not the only time that will happen in this Vuelta. The last week will feature Pena Cabarga + Monte Naranco + Angliru.

 

[Jan the Man]

That's not the only time that will happen in this Vuelta. The last week will feature Pena Cabarga + Monte Naranco + Angliru.

Madness

!!

 

[apmfbs]

There will be three threes:
Peñas Blancas-Valdepeñas-Haza LLana.....first week, even though valdepeñas is only an uphill

Canolich-Another-Formigal................second week
Peña Cabarga-Naranco-Angliru............last week.

In spite of that if the stage of Cabarga is fine and the unknown Pyrenean stage is fine we can have a good Vuelta

 

[Descender]

Oh yeah I forgot about the Pyrenees trio.

Isn't it hilarious...

 

[Eshnar]

Oh yeah I forgot about the Pyrenees trio.

Isn't it hilarious...

It would be hilarious if they were the only uphill finishes of the race
This way is.... well I don't know how to name this kind of bs.