Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2021: Stage 4 (El Burgo de Osma > Molina de Aragón, 163.9 km)

[Netserk]

FERNANDO ESCARTÍN’S COMMENT:

Molina de Aragón will be the second great opportunity for sprinters in La Vuelta 21. Flat stage with an expected mass arrival. The teams with sprinters will have to work hard, should a favourite try to break away following the exhaustion of the Picón Blanco.

From the Road Book:

LLEGADA ÚLTIMO KM
Recta de 115 m en ligera subida recta
de 150 m en ligero descenso recta de
130 m en ligera subida recta de 80 m
en ligero descenso y 535 m en recta
con ligera curva izda. y dcha. Últimos
500 m en subida aproximadamente
del 2,3%

So the last 500 m have an average gradient of 2.3 %, it's for the pure sprinters.

Overall GC standings before the stage:

Overall points standings before the stage:

 

[Devil's Elbow]

The final kilometres profile is wrong, it's 500 meters at 2.3% to the finish line as per the roadbook. And yes, I know it's the official one.

 

[Netserk]

I have mapped it too, and you're right. I couldn't get the text to match the profile.

 

[Red Rick]

Yeah I'd looked at profiles and it looked like a 50m gain in the final km.

Little sad cause there's infinite flat stages in this Vuelta as is.

 

[titan31]

Is it hard enough to favour Matthews over Jakobsen and Philipsen?

Just read following posts and it is not.

 

[liamito]

The stage profile has to be wrong if the finish is really at 1.134m. ProCyclingStats mentions 1080m which makes more sense.

 

[search]

The stage profile has to be wrong if the finish is really at 1.134m. ProCyclingStats mentions 1080m which makes more sense.

or the altitude Climbfinder is wrong. Tomorrow's finish is located at around 0.5-0.6k on their profile, at least, so before the steep part.

Carretera San Francisco from Molina de Aragón - Profile of the ascent

Carretera San Francisco from Molina de Aragón is a climb in the region Castilla–La Mancha. It is 1.9km long and bridges 97 vertical meters with an average gr

climbfinder.com

 

[liamito]

Tissot also has it below 1100m.

 

[sir fly]

Modest chance for the favourable wind close to the finish.
Will require committed effort more than echelon skill.

 

[Netserk]

The original stage design had a harder finish:

 

[Netserk]

or the altitude Climbfinder is wrong. Tomorrow's finish is located at around 0.5-0.6k on their profile, at least, so before the steep part.

Carretera San Francisco from Molina de Aragón - Profile of the ascent

Carretera San Francisco from Molina de Aragón is a climb in the region Castilla–La Mancha. It is 1.9km long and bridges 97 vertical meters with an average gr

climbfinder.com

The finish-line is located at just before 0.4 km on that profile.

 

[Lequack]

The original stage design had a harder finish:

What happened, the mountain grew smaller?

 

[Samu Cuenca]

That's some serious Rog blocking by the organisers!

 

[Netserk]

What happened, the mountain grew smaller?

Now the finish-line is within/on the outskirts of the town. Originally they had the finish-line ~1 km farther up the same road. It seems they forgot to correct the altitude after the change.

 

[Breh]

Valverde is truly amazing.

I really hope he gets a stagewin but I don't really know where or how it might happen.

 

[Jungle Cycle]

why UAE is leading teams classif.? ?

 

[SHAD0W93]

Matthews or Philipsen imo

 

[CyclistAbi]

#FreeMountainTopFinish

 

[roundabout]

why UAE is leading teams classif.? ?

Because Dombrowski was 1'27'' better than any Bahrain rider

or 1'24'' better than the best Movistar

 

[Jungle Cycle]

Because Dombrowski was 1'27'' better than any Bahrain rider

or 1'24'' better than the best Movistar

how many count? ?

 

[roundabout]

how many count? ?

3 per stage

 

[claude cat]

The final kilometres profile is wrong, it's 500 meters at 2.3% to the finish line as per the roadbook. And yes, I know it's the official one.

Seems consistent with this

https://twitter.com/x/status/1427366087381987338

View: https://twitter.com/BenjiNaesen/status/1427366087381987338?s=20



Looks tailor made for Matthews.

 

[search]

not sure, on Street View it looks fairly narrow and more twisty than the map makes you think. Not in the dangerous way, but the peloton will likely be stretched out, meaning position is key. Could be an issue for Matthews, as he lacks support. If Groupama get's it right today, I'd go for Demare

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Martin Laas to win and make it a miraculous Estonian 1-2 of back to back victories.
Highly unlikely, but would be fun.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

From the official roadbook, the final path is very clear, and thus easy to plot in GPS sites as here.

Final 5.0 km, +71 hm in all.

And final 500 m:

IMO the last ramp will not be a particular challenge for the heavy sprinters.
As I see it, it's more about the sprinter teams making a timed grouping.