Vuelta 2017, Stage 6 :Villareal to Sagunto 204.4 km

[Robert5091]

At 204.4 kilometres, stage 6 in the Vuelta a España travels from Villareal to Sagunto. Five intermedate climbs account for a route that's tailor made for escapees.

Villareal is home to Villareal Club de Fútbol, a football club playing in the primera division. But today the town is the one and only departure place to the 6th stage of the Vuelta a Espana.

The first 13.4 kilometres are completely flat and after the passage in Nules the roads start to become sloping. Not steep at all, but with 48 kilometres done the riders crest Puerto de Ain. Following a short descent the Puerto de Eslida appears. The climb is averaging 5.6%, while is is crested at kilometre 59.8.

A gradual descent and a gradual climb lead to the summit of Alto de Chirivilla before another gradual descent leads to the foot of the Puerto del Oronet – a 6.4 kilometres climb at 4%. Nothing to worry about.

The last climb of the day is Puerto del Garbi, a 9.3 kilometres ascent with steepest ramps of 21%. Yet, the average gradient is 5.2%, so that’s another case of ‘nothing to worry about’. Except for the fast men, probably.

At the top of Puerto del Garbi there are 36.4 kilometres left to race, mostly downhill. The final 3 kilometres are on the flat.

Note! The sprint is located 7.4 km from the finish! What?! :surprised:

Cat 2 Puerto del Garbi profile

Finish -

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Annoyingly, there would be another route down from El Garbí that would bring the climb nearly 10km closer to the finish after a technical and steep descent, though I'd still say it's better if they finished in Sagunt itself rather than its coastal offshoot.

 

[Red Rick]

I like this stage, but the medium mountains in this Vuelta seem largely not hard enough for real carnage.

 

[Tonton]

Sagunt, or Puerto Sagunto as I remember it is a place of huge historical significance. From the antiquity to the renaissance, it was a major harbor. It's conquest by Hannibal triggered the second Punic war. The castle offers roman ruins, including a theater. I enjoyed my time there. From noon until 3pm, stay inside...or bake (I bet that another Hannibal will eat you then ).

BOD or reduced bunch (30-40 riders). Alaphilippe, if he recovered well, could be a tough customer.

 

[Forever The Best]

Re:

Annoyingly, there would be another route down from El Garbí that would bring the climb nearly 10km closer to the finish after a technical and steep descent, though I'd still say it's better if they finished in Sagunt itself rather than its coastal offshoot.

How they manage to make a stage that can be great crap by making the distance between the climb and finish 16 km longer by 2 decisions...
You're talking about descending this side, right?

Also, they were finishing in Sagunt itself when the stage was first presented but they made a change to finish it at the coast now.

 

[portugal11]

I love this stage. Prudhomme must see how a sprint stage should be designed. Not those boring stages without anytype of climb, to favor track sprinters like kittel who doesn't have any glimpse of endurance. Sick of _____________ during 200 km!

 

[movingtarget]

De Gendt will like the look of this one.

 

[sir fly]

Re:

I like this stage, but the medium mountains in this Vuelta seem largely not hard enough for real carnage.

Alberto Contador will win this bike race?

 

[Tonton]

Re: Re:

I like this stage, but the medium mountains in this Vuelta seem largely not hard enough for real carnage.

Alberto Contador will win this bike race?

Of course he will .

 

[sir fly]

Re: Re:

I like this stage, but the medium mountains in this Vuelta seem largely not hard enough for real carnage.

Alberto Contador will win this bike race?

Of course he will .

Although posted to encourage Red Rick's ever present optimism, it carries a great deal of truth.
Not a bad profile at all for Contador's bravery.

 

[Tank Engine]

One for the break. As Libertine says, it would have been better if the final climb were closer to the finish. An ambush on this course is possible, but unlikely. I'm expecting the Lotto Soudal guys to target this stage, they've got a few good guys for this terrain. de Gendt is an obvious pick, maybe de Clercq?

 

[Laplaz]

Quick Step could try keeping all together for Trentin.

 

[bambino]

Re:

Quick Step could try keeping all together for Trentin.

On the other hand, Sky could place Moscon to do damage on that steep 2km of Garbi and the sprinters would be nowhere to be seen at the end.

 

[axl]

Re: Re:

Quick Step could try keeping all together for Trentin.

On the other hand, Sky could place Moscon to do damage on that steep 2km of Garbi and the sprinters would be nowhere to be seen at the end.

Why would they do that ?

I wonder which sprinter could target this stage, because it isn't that hard. I expect Trentin, Lobato, Modolo and debusschere could survive those hills. If all these teams ride together it will be a reduced sprint.

 

[SafeBet]

Another well designed stage, I don't mind the finish being so far from the top of last hill. It gives a chance to the stronger sprinters while keeping it open for the break. My pick: Soren Kragh Andersen.

 

[bambino]

Re: Re:

Quick Step could try keeping all together for Trentin.

On the other hand, Sky could place Moscon to do damage on that steep 2km of Garbi and the sprinters would be nowhere to be seen at the end.

Why would they do that ?

I wonder which sprinter could target this stage, because it isn't that hard. I expect Trentin, Lobato, Modolo and debusschere could survive those hills. If all these teams ride together it will be a reduced sprint.

Bonus seconds

 

[Pharazon]

break away winner written all over it

 

[DFA123]

This last climb is being underestimated a lot I think. It's really, really hard in that middle section - with quite long stretches over 20% interspersed with flat, which brings the average down.

It's much harder than the final climb yesteday though - I think we'll see really carnage on it with the last 40km being good fun with several riders and small groups all chasing each other.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Annoyingly, there would be another route down from El Garbí that would bring the climb nearly 10km closer to the finish after a technical and steep descent, though I'd still say it's better if they finished in Sagunt itself rather than its coastal offshoot.

How they manage to make a stage that can be great crap by making the distance between the climb and finish 16 km longer by 2 decisions...
You're talking about descending this side, right?

Also, they were finishing in Sagunt itself when the stage was first presented but they made a change to finish it at the coast now.

I don't think you could descend that side in it's current condition. The road surface is really broken at the bottom, with pot holes everywhere and loads of loose gravel. Perhaps they could have climbed it that way at a push and then descended to Segart (the way they're climbing now) - reducing the distance to the finish even further. But the climb is significantly harder the way they are doing it today, which is some consolation.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

I like this stage, but the medium mountains in this Vuelta seem largely not hard enough for real carnage.

Alberto Contador will win this bike race?

No question about that. Alberto Contador will win this bike race

 

[bambino]

Re:

This last climb is being underestimated a lot I think. It's really, really hard in that middle section - with quite long stretches over 20% interspersed with flat, which brings the average down.

It's much harder than the final climb yesteday though - I think we'll see really carnage on it with the last 40km being good fun with several riders and small groups all chasing each other.

This. 2km of more than 15% average coupled with total of 9km climbing is no joke. If someone drops more than a minute on that, it will be pretty to clav it back in the last 36km or so.

 

[oronet commander]

Re: Re:

This last climb is being underestimated a lot I think. It's really, really hard in that middle section - with quite long stretches over 20% interspersed with flat, which brings the average down.

It's much harder than the final climb yesteday though - I think we'll see really carnage on it with the last 40km being good fun with several riders and small groups all chasing each other.

This. 2km of more than 15% average coupled with total of 9km climbing is no joke. If someone drops more than a minute on that, it will be pretty to clav it back in the last 36km or so.

Exactly. Make no mistake: the steep section of the Garbí -just after the little town of Segart- is very narrow and tough as hell. Even when finished, the rest of the road to go back to the Oronet before the descent is narrow and twisty. If someone places some help in advance he may break the race there and make his way down to Sagunto with a good advantage.

 

[jarvo]

Larry Warbasse from the break to win today, if only so we can see that Captain America kit in full glory!

 

[klintE]

Villela vs De Gent

 

[Robert5091]

Breakaway with a chance unless Nibs or Froome wants to grab some bonus seconds.