Vuelta a España Vuelta a España 2023, stage 12: Ólvega - Zaragoza, 150.6k

[Devil's Elbow]

The only flat stage of this second week. This area is known for its exposed roads and Unipublic have tried to bait echelons with a lot of changes of direction, but unfortunately the wind isn’t playing ball whatsoever.

After starting from Ólvega, a small town so uninteresting that Google cannot tell me a single noteworthy thing to say about it, the riders head through the lower parts of the Moncayo massif. As the start is the highest point of the stage at almost 1000 metres, the elevation changes in this zone are mostly downhill, but we do have a small, uncategorised climb to Puerto de Lanzas Agudas.

Once in the Ebro floodplains, the going becomes easier still and the landscapes turn rather boring. We do have a loop through the Montes de Castejón, a low range of which the highest point reachable by road is the very easy Alto Esteban.

The finale in Zaragoza is quite untechnical compared to what we’ve seen so far, but does have some turns to stretch things out a bit. The last big turn is at the flamme rouge, then the road drags around to the right for most of the final kilometre before a final straight that’s long enough to allow for straight sprinting.

 

[RedheadDane]

I love the fact that it's a flat stage.
In some races, a stage with a profile like that would be the Queen Stage.

 

[Red Rick]

I love the fact that it's a flat stage.
In some races, a stage with a profile like that would be the Queen Stage.

No

 

[Devil's Elbow]

No

In this year's ZLM Tour, it would have. That's the only recent pro race that comes to mind though.

 

[RedheadDane]

In this year's ZLM Tour, it would have. That's the only recent pro race that comes to mind though.

Okay, maybe not the Queen Stage, since it doesn't end with a climb, but not exactly flat either.

 

[Gigs_98]

Okay, maybe not the Queen Stage, since it doesn't end with a climb, but not exactly flat either.

Idk. This stage could literally end on top of its "hardest" climb and I would still predict a bunch sprint. You simply cannot expect attacks to work on 2% climbs.

 

[Sciatic]

I thought that point was that a stage with this profile counts as a “flat stage” in the Vuelta, even it shows that there are a couple of obvious (albeit gentle) climbs.

 

[Netserk]

Idk. This stage could literally end on top of its "hardest" climb and I would still predict a bunch sprint. You simply cannot expect attacks to work on 2% climbs.

If you had a stage that was 200 km at 2 % constantly, I don't think it would be a bunch sprint most of the time.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Idk. This stage could literally end on top of its "hardest" climb and I would still predict a bunch sprint. You simply cannot expect attacks to work on 2% climbs.

At exactly 1 hour and 21 minutes into this video, you see fausto masnada launch a ferocious and attack on such a gradient and he wins the stage

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

www.youtube.com

 

[Andy schleck]

At exactly 1 hour and 21 minutes into this video, you see fausto masnada launch a ferocious and attack on such a gradient and he wins the stage

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

www.youtube.com

One of the most underrated cyclist ever. Let's not forget that he lost a il lombardia because of evenepol.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

One of the most underrated cyclist ever. Let's not forget that he lost a il lombardia because of evenepol.

Yeah, he would've surely beaten Teddy!

 

[tobydawq]

If you had a stage that was 200 km at 2 % constantly, I don't think it would be a bunch sprint most of the time.

That would be some stage.

It reminds me of the Giro stage in 2009 that Boasson Hagen won.

 

[ashhutch1997]

I love the fact that it's a flat stage.
In some races, a stage with a profile like that would be the Queen Stage.

Yeah, this years Tour of Britain..

 

[Andy schleck]

Yeah, he would've surely beaten Teddy!

How dare you, question the greatness of fausto?!

 

[Krzysztof_O]

How dare you, question the greatness of fausto?!

I would never do it. Fausto Coppi was an absolute legend!

 

[tobydawq]

I would never do it. Fausto Coppi was an absolute legend!

Nostalgia bias.

 

[Rob5091]

One of the things we did not want to see again from the Giro was Covid, but some bug is making it's way around the peloton -
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...oughing-covid-concerns-at-the-vuelta-a-espana

""The last 3 days haven't gone so well," TotalEnergies leader Steff Cras, who sits 15th in the general classification heading into stage 11, revealed in a post-stage interview with Sporza. "I've gotten a little sick. I had hoped it would be better after the rest day, but the last 2 nights have been terrible. And my sinuses are bothering me."

"There are some sick people in the peloton. There is a lot of coughing. I don't think it is corona," Cras explains, trying to convince himself as much as anything. "I have certainly tested. Yesterday I was quite feverish. I am now taking antibiotics for 2 days. Hopefully I will recover by the weekend."

 

[QueenStagiaire]

If you had a stage that was 200 km at 2 % constantly, I don't think it would be a bunch sprint most of the time.

A possible route for this would be Côte de Domancy to Mont Blanc. Just do the neutralisation up Côte de Domancy and then ascend the billion dollar dull roadwork to the top of the mountain.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

At exactly 1 hour and 21 minutes into this video, you see fausto masnada launch a ferocious and attack on such a gradient and he wins the stage

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

www.youtube.com

Those gradients are only for the greatest cyclists. That‘s why Hinault won the last time the Vuelta finished in Zaragoza.

 

[Rob5091]

Finish for stage 12 - weather should not be a problem.

 

[RedheadDane]

I would never do it. Fausto Coppi was an absolute legend!

Coppi wouldn't have been able to beat Pogacar either...

 

[Rackham]

Finish for stage 12 - weather should not be a problem.

You see, this is a perfect example of how the 3km rule needs to be way, way more flexible. I mean just look at that b*tch of a u-turn after the 4km marker, i.e. it exists to wreck the GC of a bunch of guys when someone decks it in the bunch.

If I'm a UCI official with the power to look at these routes & make the proper decisions, I freeze GC times before they cross the river.

 

[hfer07]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Nostalgia bias.

I don't know, but it seems to me that part of being a legend is that people have nostalgia bias towards you.

 

[Bonimenier]

Finish for stage 12 - weather should not be a problem.

What do you mean? There is already a huge water flood close to the route from 4 till 1 km to go.