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Vuelta 2018 Stage 4:Vélez-Málaga - La Alfaguara 161.4km

Tuesday's stage -
Vuelta 2018 Stage 4:Vélez-Málaga - La Alfaguara 161.4km start 13.19 CET

Following the start in Vélez-Málaga the route moves along the Costa del Sol to turn inland in Almuñécar. La Vuelta follows the A-4050 to Jete and Otívar. This the Carretera de la Cabra – road of the goats -, an 18.2 kilometres climb with an average gradient of 5.2%. Following a short descent the route continues to climb for 5.8 kilometres at 4% before the riders fly down to the Embalse de los Bermejales.

Starting at the reservoir the route climbs to the plateau on which Granada sits. A prolonged downhill false flat runs to the old town in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The race moves through Granada and shortly hits the final climb in the Sierra de la Alfaguara – 12.4 kilometres at 5.4% with its steepest ramps halfway up.
stage-4-profile.jpg


Alto de la Cabra Montés
stage-4-alto-de-la-cabra-montes.jpg


Puerto de Alfacar
stage-4-puerto-de-alfacar.jpg


Alfaguara.gif
 
So tomorrow we have "The road of the goats" and last year was n't it the "road of the cows" where Froome blew up? It's all getting very agricultural :)

Prediction - A select group at the end with a few digs to check out the legs and opposition.
 
Re:

Red Rick said:
Added a more detailed profile of the final climb to the OP

Expecting this to be a little less controlled all the way to the finish.
You have 16 kilometers of climb. The Vuelta site has 12 km with the same altitude. There is a disconnect somewhere?

Note: I see now. The first 3.5 milometers do not feature in the original profile
 
Giro-ish, stage 4 then stage 9 first week anti-meh design...I won't complain. If Simon is the Giro Simon, he'll show something. Valverde ftw seems like a no-brainer. I'm curious to see who will lose time, 20" or 30"that will count in the end. If raced hard, it's enough for some (little) damage to be inflicted. You can't hide your cards too much. Defensive riding and digs ftw: Kwiat will survive this.
 
I think this is for the break. Not sure Movistar will be interested in chasing for Valverde.

With 50km of flat to start the stage it's hard to predict, but someone from BMC will be there (Demarchi and/or Tuens, most likely, especially since they both dropped time on Stage 3) and Benoot, who knows this area well.
 
The Barb said:
I think this is for the break. Not sure Movistar will be interested in chasing for Valverde.

With 50km of flat to start the stage it's hard to predict, but someone from BMC will be there (Demarchi and/or Tuens, most likely, especially since they both dropped time on Stage 3) and Benoot, who knows this area well.


In a break you'll also get at least one rider each from the 3 Spanish Pro Conti teams and if Mate is really going after the KOM jersey he'll be in the break to go after whatever KOM points he can find.
 

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