- Sep 20, 2017
- 12,124
- 22,993
- 28,180
The final day before the rest day is a clear breakaway opportunity on paper, but with the green jersey battle still looking competitive we might well see an attempt to control it.
Map and profile
Start
After a few days without too much travel, the long transfers make a return with a trip to the westernmost town on the Asturian coast, A Veiga/Vegadeo. It is right on the border with Galicia, and in fact the local dialect is a hybrid of Asturian and Galician (albeit closer to the latter). Although Asturias and Galicia were usually part of the same kingdom following the Kingdom of Asturias’ conquest of the latter in 740, the region’s status as a geographical and linguistic border region still meant that there were border disputes between the bishops of Oviedo/Uviéu in Asturias and Lugo in Galicia. Finally, in 1198, the border was drawn at the river Eo and its estuary. The bishop of Oviedo commissioned a new town, Castropol, to rival the now-Galician Ribadeo on the other side of the estuary. A Veiga played second fiddle to Castropol for a long time, not taking over as the regional administrative centre until the 19th century. However, in the 16th century A Veiga was made politically independent of both its neighbour town and the bishop and started to develop, mainly around its port and the regional forestries.
During the Peninsular War, this far-flung, mountainous corner of Spain proved hard to reach for the Napoleonic forces, and thus A Veiga became a centre of weapons and munition production. However, as the Spanish economy started to become more and more reliant on cities, this peripheral location became a weakness. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the town stagnated, before the Spanish Civil War and then mass industrialisation led to severe population decline. Economic migration away from the region is still ongoing, and thus the population has dropped below 4000 having stood above 7000 on the eve of the civil war.
(picture by Asturkian at Wikimedia Commons)
The route
Time for a rarity as far as this Vuelta is concerned: an uphill start. The flag drops at the bottom of the first KOM, and it’s a long one: the Puerto A Garganta/Puerto de La Garganta. The first 1.5 kilometres of the profile below are a part of the neutralisation, from where they climb to the marked pass 18 kilometres into said profile.
Just before the summit, the route joins that of the 2021 stage to Monforte de Lemos for the first time. There are two sections from here onwards where both stages are different: later on, we are skipping the detour via Lugo, but here Unipublic have added a different detour, taking in some uncategorised climbing in the Oscos/Ozcos region. The first of these uncategorised climbs is the Alto de la Llanada.
After a short descent, the riders tackle the little wall that is the Alto de San Martín de Oscos/Alto de Samartín d’Ozcos.
Up next is the Alto de San Julian/San Xulián.
After another short descent, the riders rejoin the 2021 route. That only means the next climb is longer, as it’s time for the second and final KOM of the day, Alto de Barbeitos. The route enters Galicia where the main section of the climb turns to false flat.
With that, the hard part of the stage is over, and if there’s still a peloton that wants to close things down, it has 113 kilometres to do so. However, things are still less than flat. Although the next 65 kilometres, most of which are on the lesser-travelled Camino Primitivo (an alternative route to Santiago de Compostela) trend downhill, there are still some uncategorised ascents to deal with, chiefly the Alto da/de Fontaneira.
This backs into the Alto da/de A Baqueriza.
We then have a rare actually-flat section, albeit not as long as in the 2021 stage given that this is where the route takes a shortcut to avoid Lugo, capital of the province in which this part of the stage is. The next hill is right before the intermediate sprint, in Alto de Betote de Arriba.
A short dip takes the riders into Sarria, one of the stopoffs on the Camino Francés, the main pilgrim’s route, which hosts the intermediate sprint. On the other side of town, the last climb of the day, Alto da/de A Valiña.
At the summit, there are 30 kilometres left to race. The descent that follows the plateau section is very untechnical, but the finish is not. It’s the same as in 2021, with a series of roundabouts between 3k and 2k to go and then two big right-handers in the final 800 metres, both sharper than 90%.
Finish
With its short, but steep hill overlooking the Cabe river, Monforte de Lemos was always a natural location for human settlement. There was a hillfort here in Celtic times, but when the site was really developed in the Middle Ages, it was not as a castle but as a monastery (although a castle was added in the 13th century). San Vicente del/do Pino was founded in the 10th century, although the current construction dates back to the 16th century. In 1104, the abbot donated part of the land below the hill to a local lord so that a town could be built there. Thus, Monforte de Lemos was born, and it soon grew to be the central town of the Ribeira Sacra region. In 1230, Galicia came under Castillan control, but the local nobility retained a large amount of power. Their rule grew to be so widely disliked that following a series of bad harvests, the whole region rose up in revolt in 1467. This so-called Irmandiño revolt led to the destruction of an estimated 130 castles and forts, including the one in Monforte, but was eventually suppressed in 1469. The strong ties to the Church remained, with a sprawling seminary being founded in the 16th century. The complex, the College of Nosa Señora de Antiga/Nuestra Señora de la Antigua, is the finish location on today’s stage.
In 1809, Monforte de Lemos was a theatre of war in the Peninsular War, and the events there can be taken as the French troubles in a nutshell. In January, the British army evacuated Galicia, leaving a comparatively poorly-armed local population combined with what Spanish forces were available to fend for itself. Monforte de Lemos, being one of the towns on the route from central Spain into the region, therefore became an obvious military target. In the span of six months, the French army had to conquer the town three times, because every time the main force moved elsewhere local resistance immediately sprang back up. By the third time, the French army was on the retreat, and by July 1809 they were out of Galicia, never to return. Monforte was free once more, but at the cost of hundreds of dead civilians and significant damage to the town. In 1883, the railway (the main line from Galicia to Madrid) arrived in Monforte, and in significant part because a lot of associated infrastructure such as rail yards was located here, this led to a boom period. However, under Franco these facilities were mostly located away, and with the town being somewhat left behind by industrialisation it entered a period of decline from which it has not really recovered. It first hosted the Vuelta in 2016 for a stage start, followed by the previously discussed 2021 stage finish where a breakaway (from which Magnus Cort won) narrowly held off the peloton.
(picture by Chichole at Wikimedia Commons)
Map and profile
Start
After a few days without too much travel, the long transfers make a return with a trip to the westernmost town on the Asturian coast, A Veiga/Vegadeo. It is right on the border with Galicia, and in fact the local dialect is a hybrid of Asturian and Galician (albeit closer to the latter). Although Asturias and Galicia were usually part of the same kingdom following the Kingdom of Asturias’ conquest of the latter in 740, the region’s status as a geographical and linguistic border region still meant that there were border disputes between the bishops of Oviedo/Uviéu in Asturias and Lugo in Galicia. Finally, in 1198, the border was drawn at the river Eo and its estuary. The bishop of Oviedo commissioned a new town, Castropol, to rival the now-Galician Ribadeo on the other side of the estuary. A Veiga played second fiddle to Castropol for a long time, not taking over as the regional administrative centre until the 19th century. However, in the 16th century A Veiga was made politically independent of both its neighbour town and the bishop and started to develop, mainly around its port and the regional forestries.
During the Peninsular War, this far-flung, mountainous corner of Spain proved hard to reach for the Napoleonic forces, and thus A Veiga became a centre of weapons and munition production. However, as the Spanish economy started to become more and more reliant on cities, this peripheral location became a weakness. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the town stagnated, before the Spanish Civil War and then mass industrialisation led to severe population decline. Economic migration away from the region is still ongoing, and thus the population has dropped below 4000 having stood above 7000 on the eve of the civil war.
(picture by Asturkian at Wikimedia Commons)
The route
Time for a rarity as far as this Vuelta is concerned: an uphill start. The flag drops at the bottom of the first KOM, and it’s a long one: the Puerto A Garganta/Puerto de La Garganta. The first 1.5 kilometres of the profile below are a part of the neutralisation, from where they climb to the marked pass 18 kilometres into said profile.
Just before the summit, the route joins that of the 2021 stage to Monforte de Lemos for the first time. There are two sections from here onwards where both stages are different: later on, we are skipping the detour via Lugo, but here Unipublic have added a different detour, taking in some uncategorised climbing in the Oscos/Ozcos region. The first of these uncategorised climbs is the Alto de la Llanada.
After a short descent, the riders tackle the little wall that is the Alto de San Martín de Oscos/Alto de Samartín d’Ozcos.
Up next is the Alto de San Julian/San Xulián.
After another short descent, the riders rejoin the 2021 route. That only means the next climb is longer, as it’s time for the second and final KOM of the day, Alto de Barbeitos. The route enters Galicia where the main section of the climb turns to false flat.
With that, the hard part of the stage is over, and if there’s still a peloton that wants to close things down, it has 113 kilometres to do so. However, things are still less than flat. Although the next 65 kilometres, most of which are on the lesser-travelled Camino Primitivo (an alternative route to Santiago de Compostela) trend downhill, there are still some uncategorised ascents to deal with, chiefly the Alto da/de Fontaneira.
This backs into the Alto da/de A Baqueriza.
We then have a rare actually-flat section, albeit not as long as in the 2021 stage given that this is where the route takes a shortcut to avoid Lugo, capital of the province in which this part of the stage is. The next hill is right before the intermediate sprint, in Alto de Betote de Arriba.
A short dip takes the riders into Sarria, one of the stopoffs on the Camino Francés, the main pilgrim’s route, which hosts the intermediate sprint. On the other side of town, the last climb of the day, Alto da/de A Valiña.
At the summit, there are 30 kilometres left to race. The descent that follows the plateau section is very untechnical, but the finish is not. It’s the same as in 2021, with a series of roundabouts between 3k and 2k to go and then two big right-handers in the final 800 metres, both sharper than 90%.
Finish
With its short, but steep hill overlooking the Cabe river, Monforte de Lemos was always a natural location for human settlement. There was a hillfort here in Celtic times, but when the site was really developed in the Middle Ages, it was not as a castle but as a monastery (although a castle was added in the 13th century). San Vicente del/do Pino was founded in the 10th century, although the current construction dates back to the 16th century. In 1104, the abbot donated part of the land below the hill to a local lord so that a town could be built there. Thus, Monforte de Lemos was born, and it soon grew to be the central town of the Ribeira Sacra region. In 1230, Galicia came under Castillan control, but the local nobility retained a large amount of power. Their rule grew to be so widely disliked that following a series of bad harvests, the whole region rose up in revolt in 1467. This so-called Irmandiño revolt led to the destruction of an estimated 130 castles and forts, including the one in Monforte, but was eventually suppressed in 1469. The strong ties to the Church remained, with a sprawling seminary being founded in the 16th century. The complex, the College of Nosa Señora de Antiga/Nuestra Señora de la Antigua, is the finish location on today’s stage.
In 1809, Monforte de Lemos was a theatre of war in the Peninsular War, and the events there can be taken as the French troubles in a nutshell. In January, the British army evacuated Galicia, leaving a comparatively poorly-armed local population combined with what Spanish forces were available to fend for itself. Monforte de Lemos, being one of the towns on the route from central Spain into the region, therefore became an obvious military target. In the span of six months, the French army had to conquer the town three times, because every time the main force moved elsewhere local resistance immediately sprang back up. By the third time, the French army was on the retreat, and by July 1809 they were out of Galicia, never to return. Monforte was free once more, but at the cost of hundreds of dead civilians and significant damage to the town. In 1883, the railway (the main line from Galicia to Madrid) arrived in Monforte, and in significant part because a lot of associated infrastructure such as rail yards was located here, this led to a boom period. However, under Franco these facilities were mostly located away, and with the town being somewhat left behind by industrialisation it entered a period of decline from which it has not really recovered. It first hosted the Vuelta in 2016 for a stage start, followed by the previously discussed 2021 stage finish where a breakaway (from which Magnus Cort won) narrowly held off the peloton.
(picture by Chichole at Wikimedia Commons)
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