The rumour is that Unipublic is looking for a long and hard mountain stage in Ávila. The climbs in Ávila are not very different from those in Guadarrama, but there are stage designs linking upto 7 of them with more than 5000m of climbing in ~200km on roads that have been used in the race before. We just need Delgado to lobby Escartín.
Re:
I guess it's very race dependent whether a stage like that is good. But since a stage is those mountains is usually close to the finish in Madrid, the riders are probably more willing to attack than if a similar stage were placed earlier in the tour.
I think Spain is quite difficult when it comes to creating stages that provides action for more than the last kms. Most of the climbs to ski resorts are pretty gentle. And there are very few really tough passes close to at least moderatley sized towns/villages. The latter applies both to possibilites for a descent finish or a stage with a big second last climb and a gentle finish climb (like Mortirolo/Aprica, Finestre/Sestriere, etc).
That way we end up with the finish climb being brutally steep the last few kms, or with a finish with a longer and fairly gentle climb, but without the tough second last climb.
ice&fire said:
I guess it's very race dependent whether a stage like that is good. But since a stage is those mountains is usually close to the finish in Madrid, the riders are probably more willing to attack than if a similar stage were placed earlier in the tour.
I think Spain is quite difficult when it comes to creating stages that provides action for more than the last kms. Most of the climbs to ski resorts are pretty gentle. And there are very few really tough passes close to at least moderatley sized towns/villages. The latter applies both to possibilites for a descent finish or a stage with a big second last climb and a gentle finish climb (like Mortirolo/Aprica, Finestre/Sestriere, etc).
That way we end up with the finish climb being brutally steep the last few kms, or with a finish with a longer and fairly gentle climb, but without the tough second last climb.
- Feb 20, 2010
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Re:
This was a stage 20 in a Vuelta design I haven't got round to posting or have abandoned. After a copy of the old El Tiemblo - Ávila TT on stage 19.
ice&fire said:
This was a stage 20 in a Vuelta design I haven't got round to posting or have abandoned. After a copy of the old El Tiemblo - Ávila TT on stage 19.
That's good LS, but all rumours are pointing to a finish at the Plataforma de Gredos, so the first profile you posted here may give a good hint of the final kms with Chía and Peña Negra before the gentle climb to the finsh line.
As for the stage departure the latest rumours are about Arenas de San Pedro, so there are many possibilities including Pedro Bernardo and one of Mijares, Serranillos or El Pico. Maybe they go nuts and add La Centenera to kick-off. Centenera, Pedro Bernardo and Mijares would be a crazy start with those 3 climbs in the first 70km.
As for the stage departure the latest rumours are about Arenas de San Pedro, so there are many possibilities including Pedro Bernardo and one of Mijares, Serranillos or El Pico. Maybe they go nuts and add La Centenera to kick-off. Centenera, Pedro Bernardo and Mijares would be a crazy start with those 3 climbs in the first 70km.
A local TV station has announced a stage finish in the town of Guadalajara. At first I thought this might be one for the sprinters as the world is downhill in 50km around the finish coming from the north. Then I recalled there's a river and a hill, so it could be for the puncheurs.
With this we can guess that the stages after the second rest day will be:
Wed: Aranda de Duero - Guadalajara
Thu: Toledo
Fri: Sierra de Gredos
Sat: Sierra de Guadarrama (Cotos?)
With this we can guess that the stages after the second rest day will be:
Wed: Aranda de Duero - Guadalajara
Thu: Toledo
Fri: Sierra de Gredos
Sat: Sierra de Guadarrama (Cotos?)
Re:
Avila - Toledo
Arenas de San Pedro - Plataforma de Gredos
Colmenar Viejo - Cotos
ice&fire said:
Avila - Toledo
Arenas de San Pedro - Plataforma de Gredos
Colmenar Viejo - Cotos
ciclo21 announces a stage finish at El Puig, just north of Valencia. They say it could be the third stage, coming either from the province of Alicante or from Cullera. When the race departure was announced they said the province of Alicante would have three stages, while ciclo21 mentions only two and possibly the departure of the third one. I'm wondering if the stage will go to the nearby Sierra Calderona and pay a visit to el Garbí.
A stage finish in Bilbao is confirmed on Thursday 5th Sep, with departure presumably in Navarre.
https://www.ciclismoafondo.es/competicion/noticias-resultados-ciclismo/articulo/bilbao-regresa-al-recorrido-de-la-vuelta-en-2019
There are rumours about an ascent to this before the finish in downtown.
The next stage will go to Los Machucos, but it is not yet confirmed which side they will climb.
https://www.zikloland.com/la-vuelta-apunta-nuevo-los-machucos/
And the first stage with finish in Asturias will depart from San Vicente de la Barquera in west Cantabria. The shortest path form there to Oviedo is 140km and to La Cubilla 190km with no additional climbs. So I guess the finish at Oviedo will be before the two MTFs.
https://www.ciclismoafondo.es/competicion/noticias-resultados-ciclismo/articulo/bilbao-regresa-al-recorrido-de-la-vuelta-en-2019
There are rumours about an ascent to this before the finish in downtown.
The next stage will go to Los Machucos, but it is not yet confirmed which side they will climb.
https://www.zikloland.com/la-vuelta-apunta-nuevo-los-machucos/
And the first stage with finish in Asturias will depart from San Vicente de la Barquera in west Cantabria. The shortest path form there to Oviedo is 140km and to La Cubilla 190km with no additional climbs. So I guess the finish at Oviedo will be before the two MTFs.
Not all the roads in the area are in street view, a the few sections in are either unpaved or made of concrete. All of them are narrow, very narrow, like the last climb in Clasica de San Sebastián, which would be a problem in the descent. The shortest way back to the city center would be between 7 and 8 km. Perhaps someone more familiar with the area can give more accurate information.
According to local media the town of Los Arcos in Navarra is candidate for the start of the stage to Bilbao. So now we just miss the stage after the Pau ITT to complete the second week.
The first week still has many gaps. Most sources have 3 stages in Alicante. Then El Puig and the Observatorio are within reasonable distance to be consecutive stages. The main unknown is the weekend closing the first week. Pundits on forums and twitter have been carried away with their thoughts to have a mountain stage in the French central Pyrenees before the rest day. To date no source has mentioned the possibility of 3 stages on French roads, and a transfer to start in Spain the stage after Pau seems a bit odd.
So I'll go with a summary of what we know.
Stage 1: Torrevieja TT
Stage 2: Province of Alicante
Stage 3: Province of Alicante???
Stage 4: El Puig
Stage 5: Observatorio de Javalambre ??? (MTF)
Stage 6: ???
Stage 7: ???
Stage 8: ???
Stage 9: ??? - Andorra (MTF?)
Rest day
Stage 10: Pau ITT
Stage 11: French Basque Country???
Stage 12: Los Arcos - Bilbao
Stage 13: ??? - Los Machucos (MTF)
Stage 14: San Vicente de la Barquera - Oviedo
Stage 15: ??? - La Cubilla (MTF)
Stage 16: ??? - Santuario del Acebo (MTF)
Rest Day
Stage 17: Aranda de Duero - Guadalajara
Stage 18: ??? - Toledo
Stage 19: Province of Avila (Arenas de San Pedro? - Gredos MTF?)
Stage 20: Sierra de Guadarrama? (??? - Puerto de Cotos MTF ???)
Stage 21: Fuenlabrada - Madrid
The first week still has many gaps. Most sources have 3 stages in Alicante. Then El Puig and the Observatorio are within reasonable distance to be consecutive stages. The main unknown is the weekend closing the first week. Pundits on forums and twitter have been carried away with their thoughts to have a mountain stage in the French central Pyrenees before the rest day. To date no source has mentioned the possibility of 3 stages on French roads, and a transfer to start in Spain the stage after Pau seems a bit odd.
So I'll go with a summary of what we know.
Stage 1: Torrevieja TT
Stage 2: Province of Alicante
Stage 3: Province of Alicante???
Stage 4: El Puig
Stage 5: Observatorio de Javalambre ??? (MTF)
Stage 6: ???
Stage 7: ???
Stage 8: ???
Stage 9: ??? - Andorra (MTF?)
Rest day
Stage 10: Pau ITT
Stage 11: French Basque Country???
Stage 12: Los Arcos - Bilbao
Stage 13: ??? - Los Machucos (MTF)
Stage 14: San Vicente de la Barquera - Oviedo
Stage 15: ??? - La Cubilla (MTF)
Stage 16: ??? - Santuario del Acebo (MTF)
Rest Day
Stage 17: Aranda de Duero - Guadalajara
Stage 18: ??? - Toledo
Stage 19: Province of Avila (Arenas de San Pedro? - Gredos MTF?)
Stage 20: Sierra de Guadarrama? (??? - Puerto de Cotos MTF ???)
Stage 21: Fuenlabrada - Madrid
There's been two reports today from local media about last week stages.
The stage in the mountains of Ávila is rumoured to be 'decisive' and scheduled on the last Saturday. As anticipated by alexcta, Ávila is also expected to host the departure of the stage to Toledo.
Then, the stage between Aranda de Duero and Guadalajara is rumoured to be on Thursday. The stage will climb La Quesera and will go in reverse direction through the difficult roads that made the end of the 2015 stage where Roche outsprinted Zubeldia for the win. Unfortunately the last 50km are too easy for anything relevant.
If this rescheduling is true, it puts under question the stage in the Sierra de Guadarrama.
The stage in the mountains of Ávila is rumoured to be 'decisive' and scheduled on the last Saturday. As anticipated by alexcta, Ávila is also expected to host the departure of the stage to Toledo.
Then, the stage between Aranda de Duero and Guadalajara is rumoured to be on Thursday. The stage will climb La Quesera and will go in reverse direction through the difficult roads that made the end of the 2015 stage where Roche outsprinted Zubeldia for the win. Unfortunately the last 50km are too easy for anything relevant.
If this rescheduling is true, it puts under question the stage in the Sierra de Guadarrama.
AS has collected all info published by news media in an article today and gives some interesting comments:
There will be eight MTFs, four of them new
There might not be any stage longer than 200km
It describes La Cubilla as a 30km long, so they might go up to the summit
It talks about the multiple sides of Acebo
https://as.com/ciclismo/2018/12/05/vuelta_espana/1544048292_916108.html
There will be eight MTFs, four of them new
There might not be any stage longer than 200km
It describes La Cubilla as a 30km long, so they might go up to the summit
It talks about the multiple sides of Acebo
https://as.com/ciclismo/2018/12/05/vuelta_espana/1544048292_916108.html
AS confirms the stage in Sierra de Guadarrama with the same climbs as in 2015, Navacerrada, Morcuera N, Morcuera S and Cotos, but Cotos won't be the stage finish.
They quote DIario de Avila as the source for the stage to Gredos to be scheduled on the last Saturday. So the stage in Guadarrama would be in Thursday or Friday, depending on the date for the stage to Toledo.
My guess is that coming to Guadalajara and going to Ávila, both Toledo-Guadarrama and Guadarrama-Toledo are feasible, but closing the roads of Guadarrama on Friday afternoon may be more problematic than doing it on Thursday.
AS also confirms the stage finish in Urdax, which should come after the Pau ITT.
https://as.com/ciclismo/2018/12/13/vuelta_espana/1544734142_784921.html
They quote DIario de Avila as the source for the stage to Gredos to be scheduled on the last Saturday. So the stage in Guadarrama would be in Thursday or Friday, depending on the date for the stage to Toledo.
My guess is that coming to Guadalajara and going to Ávila, both Toledo-Guadarrama and Guadarrama-Toledo are feasible, but closing the roads of Guadarrama on Friday afternoon may be more problematic than doing it on Thursday.
AS also confirms the stage finish in Urdax, which should come after the Pau ITT.
https://as.com/ciclismo/2018/12/13/vuelta_espana/1544734142_784921.html
The stage finish at the Observatorio de Javalambre is confirmed by local media:
http://www.diariodeteruel.es/noticia.asp?notid=1010962&secid=5#.XBPZffwgdak.twitter
This could be as early as stage 5
http://www.diariodeteruel.es/noticia.asp?notid=1010962&secid=5#.XBPZffwgdak.twitter
This could be as early as stage 5
- Mar 29, 2016
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Accoding to El Periodic, the stage in Andorra will include 4km of sterrato connecting the climbs of Engolasters and Cortals d'Encamp.
https://www.elperiodic.ad/noticia/68720/lavueltatindra-el-primer-tram-de-sterrato-de-la-seva-historia-a-andorra
The final climbs will be Comella, Engolasters and Cortals d'Encamp and the only flat between those climbs will be the sterrato section.
https://www.elperiodic.ad/noticia/68720/lavueltatindra-el-primer-tram-de-sterrato-de-la-seva-historia-a-andorra
The final climbs will be Comella, Engolasters and Cortals d'Encamp and the only flat between those climbs will be the sterrato section.
- Oct 12, 2013
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Re:
Too bad they don't use the sterrato ascent. They would have to take the left road here to get to the Observatorio.ice&fire said:
- Jun 7, 2010
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Re:
More like 1/2 Cortals d'Encamp, but it is probably better than just Comella and the full climb.
ice&fire said:
More like 1/2 Cortals d'Encamp, but it is probably better than just Comella and the full climb.
Re:
Better than feared. When you previously wrote an easy Andorra stage (since it was to early in the Vuelta to have the really tough mountain stages), I feared something like Ordino-Arcalis. This is much better. Comella is 4 km 8 %. Engolasters is 6 km, 8 %, followed by a sterrato road for a few kms, then another 6 km, 7,5-8 % to Els Cortals.
ice&fire said:
Better than feared. When you previously wrote an easy Andorra stage (since it was to early in the Vuelta to have the really tough mountain stages), I feared something like Ordino-Arcalis. This is much better. Comella is 4 km 8 %. Engolasters is 6 km, 8 %, followed by a sterrato road for a few kms, then another 6 km, 7,5-8 % to Els Cortals.
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