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Vuelta 2017 stage 12 Motril - Antequera 160,1 km

At 160.1 kilometres, stage 12 in the Vuelta a España is an entirely Andalucian affairs. The first 84 kilometers are raced on the flat shores of the Costa del Sol, while two tough climbs mark the second half of the race. The line is in Antequera, 17.5 kilometres after cresting the last peak, El Torcal.

After leaving Motríl the route travels along the Mediterranean coast before turning inland in Rincón de la Victoria. The riders follow the dry riverbed of the Totalán and start climbing the Puerto del Léon appears. It amounts to 17.4 kilometres and is extremely irregular, especially on the lower slopes. Higher up the mountain it will be easier to find a good cadence with longer stretches of 6 to 7%, while the climb eventually flattens out to 2 and 4%. The Puerto del Léon is averaging 4.9%.

The route of stage 12 in the Vuelta takes the riders further inland. With 134 kilometres done they are at the base of El Torcal, an 7.6 kilometres climb at 7%. With steepest kilometres of 10 to 11%, the ascent is fairly regular for Spanish standards. The summit is crested with 17.5 kilometres remaining before a drop leads to an uphill stretch of 750 metres at 5% that runs to the line.

The last time the Vuelta visited arrival place Antequera was in 2013. Back then stage 9 left here to finish on a punchy arrival in Valdepeñas de Jaén. Dani Moreno pushed hard to take the victory ahead of Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodríguez.

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Puerto del León 17.4 kilometre-long climb at 4.9% - category 1

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Think this is correct - El Torcal
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This could turn out to be a typical Contador-"dare or die"-stage. The climbs are not too hard, the stage is rather short and the weekend stages are going to be very tough so maybe Sky will want to try and make this one as calm as possible which could open the door for a surprise attack...

I am excited for this one :D
 
Aug 31, 2012
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I think is a good stage for Contador and Nibali.

Contador has seen some of his rivals can be beaten. Of course, it's not going to be an attack against Froome and Nibali but there are some others who can have a bad day in the last climb. A breakaway with Froome, Niballi and some others could have many possilities to be succesful. I'm sure the other favourite riders in the group are going to collaborate with him because the difference between Niballi, for example, and other rivals is not big. Imagine a group with Froome, Niballi, Contador or Kelderman with a gap of adventage between them and the others. Do you think they are not going to take advantage of it?.

Niballi can try an attack on a descent again.

So I think it's a good stage, someone (even more than one) in the top 10 is going to have a bad day.
 
80 km to first climb (that's about 90 minutes racing at current tempo!), if anyone has energy left from yesterday to go in a breakaway, Sky will let them go.

Sprint of the day, on the second climb - just love the Vuelta! :)
 

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