- Jun 14, 2010
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Vuelta a España Stage 15: Avilés - Anglirú 144km
Let’s not beat about the bush. There are a few kilometres in this stage and a couple of early climbs.
The riders have a few drinks, take a few gells.
And then we get to the mountain.
Because what the fans really care about on this day, what the riders think about all day, what stands above stage 15 is so tall it casts a shadow over not just the stage but the whole Tour.
The final climb of the day.
Alto de Angliru.
.
Before we start we should remind posters not to try this at home. Or outside. Climbing the Angrilu that is. It is a task that should be attempted only by trained professionals with decades of experience and teams of medics and experts ready on stand by.
The stage starts in Aviles and lasts only 142km. There are even one or two climbs along the way most notably the first category Alto de Cordal, which comes in at 8% for 6km, just before the descent into Angliru. Few riders will look to this the Cordal for any opportunities. Moncoutie might have a go, its unlikely that anyone else will. Its quick descent leads into the base of the final climb.
A breakaway will likely reach this point first but regardless of what their advantage is, they will not survive the ascent.
The mountain much resembles the stage.
Short, hard but doable at first and then frightening towards the end.
The first 6km are unquestionably easier. This does not mean that they can be taken for granted.
.
The average gradient for this half is 6%, but these early kilometres include ramps of 10% as well as flat sections. There is a kilometre at 8.5% and a whole kilometre at 9% before flattening out at the midway point for a km at 2%.
This is one of the challenges the climb is notorious for. Instability.
Gradients jump from 5% to 10% to 2%, allowing the riders very little a rhythm.
The other challenge Angrilu offers, the riders find out the immediately after the 2 % section.
Insane gradients.
Kilometre 7 rockets to 14.2% with a ramp of 20% and the climb starts for real.
This is merely the beginning.
For the next 6km the riders will have to fight up gradients that do not go below 11%.
The first half of Angliru would be a hard climb in and of itself. A category 1 in the Tour most probably and a hard mtf.
Its sections of steep grades mixed with flat ones provide a special challenge to the riders.
The second half is kind of like that too. You just need to add 10 percentage points to every section.
For those in need of time on GC, grades like this provide ample opportunity. Small 200m sections take minutes to complete and there is no slip stream to give dropped riders aid.
Paying attention to rivals is just a distraction. Its every man fighting his independent battle against his bike and himself.
Anyone within a few minutes of the GC lead is in with a chance.
You crack an opponent on a mountain it’s a good days work.
You crack your opponent on Angliru you crack him for good.
14% is followed by a mere 11.6% for the next 2 kilometres. These two are relatively steady. For a few minutes the riders don’t hit the super high gradients. The problem is they are still very steep. And while normally the top cyclists should be able to manage sections like this, it should be remembered that they are coming into them with very little momentum, and lots of fatigue.
It is said that when writing about Angliru, one must try to avoid using hell as a metaphor. But in the end the mountain is victorious. It cracks writers just like it cracks riders. Be it at the begining or end, you will mention hell when looking at this mountain. Deep in the barren Asturian mountains, with poor weather and very low visibility, the climb certainty appears like it could have been designed by the devil himself.
And that’s before we consider at the grades. Twice even three times as steep as mountains which break the hardest of men. Around the world it has only one rival. Nothing else comes close. There is nothing good about this climb. Some mountains look beautiful, Angliru is ugly, in every way.
Bookies might as well offer odds as to on which kilometre certain riders will break on. It is inevitable. Will it be at the beginning, with the 10% sections that hit straight away. Will it be the 20% section in the middle or the 12% steady sections that follow. If they survive that, it just means the inevitable has been prolonged.
Because the worst part, is yet to come.
Kilometre 10 jumps back up to 13.6%.
Time seems to slow. The bicycle was invented for faster travel, but here it does the complete opposite. The riders pass the fans like clouds pass the sky.
The battle for the stage victory is all important. Only 4 people have had the honour on winning on this mountain. But the GC battle comes down here too.
A new king of the Vuelta will be crowned. Take his place in the hall of legends that is Vuelta winners.
But the mountain has to be conquered first. If you want to walk with kings, you have to dance with the devil.
With a section of 17% in kilometer 10, one struggles not to laugh at the idea of this kilometre being a warm-up. But thats exactly what it is. It weakens riders even more, before the devil throws his final dice.
Kilometre 11. It’s like San Lorenzo de El Escorial only longer harder and maybe even steeper. It comes not at sea level after a flat but at 1388m altitude after 1000m of straight climbing, achieved in just 10km.
The weather is worse, the hairpins are harder, the riders don’t know how far from the finish they are, and by this point might not even know who they are or what they are doing.
Cuena las Cabres comes here. It is a section of 22%. Some say it reaches as high as 27%. The kilometre itself has an average gradient of 17% , and can therefore be described as brutal, but there are no adjectives around to describe the efficiency with which the Cuena les Cabres knocks out the riders.
And at this extremely slow pace, the riders push their bikes into the final kilometre and a half of climbing. Unfortunately for them, it offers more of the same. At 14% it might seem slightly easier but like the rest of the climb, it is very unsteady. There’s a ramp of 18% Les Piedrusines followed by a flatter section of just under 10% and one final mega ramp, this time at 19% to finish.
Here the mountain gives in. No lesser sections of 6% to finish, no smoothing out after the hardest grades. The mountain just cannot sustain its gradients any longer and dies visibly, with the road turing downward immediately.
Every single rider over this point has the right to feel like he has killed the mountain himself.
The stage finishes 500m later and 10m lower altitude, after a very slight descent.
One could argue that everyone past this point is a victor, having conquered one of the most difficult challenges nature has to offer.
Or one can argue that all the riders who make it to the top are losers. Fighting a battle from which they might never recover before immediately having to go back down the mountain.
Either way, one rider will cross that line with his arms held high while a clear picture of what the final GC in Madrid should emerge.
Mind you there is still a week to go in this Grand Tour. But with Angliru this will not feel the case.
This is the climb that defines the Vuelta, the one that decides the race.
The piece the cycling world spends the first 2 weeks of the Vuelta looking forward to and the last week looking back on.
Make no mistake. As far as the Vuelta a Espana goes, this is the main event.
This is.
Angliru.
Let’s not beat about the bush. There are a few kilometres in this stage and a couple of early climbs.
The riders have a few drinks, take a few gells.
And then we get to the mountain.
Because what the fans really care about on this day, what the riders think about all day, what stands above stage 15 is so tall it casts a shadow over not just the stage but the whole Tour.
The final climb of the day.
Alto de Angliru.
Before we start we should remind posters not to try this at home. Or outside. Climbing the Angrilu that is. It is a task that should be attempted only by trained professionals with decades of experience and teams of medics and experts ready on stand by.
The stage starts in Aviles and lasts only 142km. There are even one or two climbs along the way most notably the first category Alto de Cordal, which comes in at 8% for 6km, just before the descent into Angliru. Few riders will look to this the Cordal for any opportunities. Moncoutie might have a go, its unlikely that anyone else will. Its quick descent leads into the base of the final climb.
A breakaway will likely reach this point first but regardless of what their advantage is, they will not survive the ascent.
The mountain much resembles the stage.
Short, hard but doable at first and then frightening towards the end.
The first 6km are unquestionably easier. This does not mean that they can be taken for granted.
.
The average gradient for this half is 6%, but these early kilometres include ramps of 10% as well as flat sections. There is a kilometre at 8.5% and a whole kilometre at 9% before flattening out at the midway point for a km at 2%.
This is one of the challenges the climb is notorious for. Instability.
Gradients jump from 5% to 10% to 2%, allowing the riders very little a rhythm.
The other challenge Angrilu offers, the riders find out the immediately after the 2 % section.
Insane gradients.
Kilometre 7 rockets to 14.2% with a ramp of 20% and the climb starts for real.
This is merely the beginning.
For the next 6km the riders will have to fight up gradients that do not go below 11%.
The first half of Angliru would be a hard climb in and of itself. A category 1 in the Tour most probably and a hard mtf.
Its sections of steep grades mixed with flat ones provide a special challenge to the riders.
The second half is kind of like that too. You just need to add 10 percentage points to every section.
For those in need of time on GC, grades like this provide ample opportunity. Small 200m sections take minutes to complete and there is no slip stream to give dropped riders aid.
Paying attention to rivals is just a distraction. Its every man fighting his independent battle against his bike and himself.
Anyone within a few minutes of the GC lead is in with a chance.
You crack an opponent on a mountain it’s a good days work.
You crack your opponent on Angliru you crack him for good.
14% is followed by a mere 11.6% for the next 2 kilometres. These two are relatively steady. For a few minutes the riders don’t hit the super high gradients. The problem is they are still very steep. And while normally the top cyclists should be able to manage sections like this, it should be remembered that they are coming into them with very little momentum, and lots of fatigue.
It is said that when writing about Angliru, one must try to avoid using hell as a metaphor. But in the end the mountain is victorious. It cracks writers just like it cracks riders. Be it at the begining or end, you will mention hell when looking at this mountain. Deep in the barren Asturian mountains, with poor weather and very low visibility, the climb certainty appears like it could have been designed by the devil himself.
And that’s before we consider at the grades. Twice even three times as steep as mountains which break the hardest of men. Around the world it has only one rival. Nothing else comes close. There is nothing good about this climb. Some mountains look beautiful, Angliru is ugly, in every way.
Bookies might as well offer odds as to on which kilometre certain riders will break on. It is inevitable. Will it be at the beginning, with the 10% sections that hit straight away. Will it be the 20% section in the middle or the 12% steady sections that follow. If they survive that, it just means the inevitable has been prolonged.
Because the worst part, is yet to come.
Kilometre 10 jumps back up to 13.6%.
Time seems to slow. The bicycle was invented for faster travel, but here it does the complete opposite. The riders pass the fans like clouds pass the sky.
The battle for the stage victory is all important. Only 4 people have had the honour on winning on this mountain. But the GC battle comes down here too.
A new king of the Vuelta will be crowned. Take his place in the hall of legends that is Vuelta winners.
But the mountain has to be conquered first. If you want to walk with kings, you have to dance with the devil.
With a section of 17% in kilometer 10, one struggles not to laugh at the idea of this kilometre being a warm-up. But thats exactly what it is. It weakens riders even more, before the devil throws his final dice.
Kilometre 11. It’s like San Lorenzo de El Escorial only longer harder and maybe even steeper. It comes not at sea level after a flat but at 1388m altitude after 1000m of straight climbing, achieved in just 10km.
The weather is worse, the hairpins are harder, the riders don’t know how far from the finish they are, and by this point might not even know who they are or what they are doing.
Cuena las Cabres comes here. It is a section of 22%. Some say it reaches as high as 27%. The kilometre itself has an average gradient of 17% , and can therefore be described as brutal, but there are no adjectives around to describe the efficiency with which the Cuena les Cabres knocks out the riders.
And at this extremely slow pace, the riders push their bikes into the final kilometre and a half of climbing. Unfortunately for them, it offers more of the same. At 14% it might seem slightly easier but like the rest of the climb, it is very unsteady. There’s a ramp of 18% Les Piedrusines followed by a flatter section of just under 10% and one final mega ramp, this time at 19% to finish.
Here the mountain gives in. No lesser sections of 6% to finish, no smoothing out after the hardest grades. The mountain just cannot sustain its gradients any longer and dies visibly, with the road turing downward immediately.
Every single rider over this point has the right to feel like he has killed the mountain himself.
The stage finishes 500m later and 10m lower altitude, after a very slight descent.
One could argue that everyone past this point is a victor, having conquered one of the most difficult challenges nature has to offer.
Or one can argue that all the riders who make it to the top are losers. Fighting a battle from which they might never recover before immediately having to go back down the mountain.
Either way, one rider will cross that line with his arms held high while a clear picture of what the final GC in Madrid should emerge.
Mind you there is still a week to go in this Grand Tour. But with Angliru this will not feel the case.
This is the climb that defines the Vuelta, the one that decides the race.
The piece the cycling world spends the first 2 weeks of the Vuelta looking forward to and the last week looking back on.
Make no mistake. As far as the Vuelta a Espana goes, this is the main event.
This is.
Angliru.
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