- Sep 20, 2017
- 12,022
- 22,769
- 28,180
The worst MTF of this year’s edition, which is saying something given the competition.
Map and profile
Start
The peloton has transferred up the Ebro valley to Alfaro, the easternmost town in La Rioja. In 179 BC, it was founded by and (then) named after Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, the father of the Gracchi brothers who were infamously murdered by opponents of their land reform proposals. There is also archaeological evidence dating back to the Visigothic and Umayyad periods, confirming the continuous existence of the town. Most of La Rioja was conquered by the Kingdom of Navarra in 923, but the eastern area held out until the early 12th century, when it too was conquered by the Navarrese. At this time, La Rioja was a borderland between Navarra and Castilla with control shifting constantly until the latter definitively gained control in 1179. Only after the fall of Franco would La Rioja be detached from Castilla once more, becoming the least populous of the thenceforth 17 autonomous communities into which Spain is subdivided.
Under the Castilian kings, Alfaro’s status and privileges slowly increased. It was granted a town charter in 1253 and, by the time that Castilla had become the dominant force in a more or less united Spain, was granted city rights. However, as this was 1629 and given that Alfaro paid the crown a significant sum of money in exchange, it would appear that this change was in large part due to the persistent debts of the monarchy. Even so, Alfaro was definitely on the rise at this time, as evidenced by the construction of its collegiate church. Construction started in 1562, lasted for over a century, and resulted in what remains the largest religious building in La Rioja. This church is also notable for having no fewer than 700 storks living on its roof. With the economic boom period in the second half of the 20th century somewhat passing it by, Alfaro has not really expanded much since its 17th-18th century heyday. As we are in La Rioja, it should not be a surprise that wine is the most immediately visible component of the local economy. The town has not hosted the Vuelta before.
(picture by thierry llansades at Flickr)
The route
Despite there not being a single categorised climb before the MTF, the stage is not quite as unipuerto as it seems, given that there are over 3300 metres of elevation gain to deal with. Much of that climbing comes in the first 50 kilometres, with the section from Cornago to Alto de Villarroya being hard enough that Unipublic could have categorised it if they had wished to do so.
After a straightforward descent to Arnedo, the roads become flatter as the riders return to the edge of the Ebro valley and start actually heading in the direction of the MTF. The route avoids the regional capital Logroño, instead taking in some minor climbs at the bottom of Moncalvillo (which I sure wish was the finish instead). In fact, we are so close to Moncalvillo that the latter of the minor climbs here features in a profile of it. The Alto de Sorzano is 3.0k at 4.6%, while the Alto de Daroca is the section between 12.1k and 9.1k on this profile.
The peloton then joins the main pilgrims’ route to Santiago de Compostela for a bit, following it as far as the intermediate sprint in the cathedral town Santo Domingo de la Calzada. Here, the riders turn into the Oja valley. This is home to two climbs: the useless one to Valdezcaray which was introduced in 1988 and proved to be so uninteresting that thereafter it was only used for MTTs, and the interesting one to Cruz de la Demanda which became a Vuelta staple in the 1990s before falling into disuse after 2001. Since then, the Vuelta has been in the area twice, and just like the previous occasion in 2012, we are seeing the mistake of 1988 being repeated. In other words, welcome to what I consider to be the worst MTF in the history of GTs. Even Montevergine is not this awful. It’s probably a bit less bad when it’s late enough in the race for a breakaway day (as it is here), but even for a non-GC stage I would have preferred a finish that suits a wider range of riders and allows for a longer finale than a MTF.
Finish
Ezcaray is a medieval town with a once-flourishing textile industry, at the heart of the Oja valley. When that industry went into decline, so too did the town, until a decision was made that was great for the local economy, but terrible for cycling fans: they decided to build a ski resort with the shallowest access road known to man. As the resort is the closest for not just La Rioja, but also the Basque Country and most of Navarra, it’s fairly popular and should therefore sadly have the money to periodically host the Vuelta for the foreseeable future.
(picture by Juanje Orío at Flickr)
Map and profile
Start
The peloton has transferred up the Ebro valley to Alfaro, the easternmost town in La Rioja. In 179 BC, it was founded by and (then) named after Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, the father of the Gracchi brothers who were infamously murdered by opponents of their land reform proposals. There is also archaeological evidence dating back to the Visigothic and Umayyad periods, confirming the continuous existence of the town. Most of La Rioja was conquered by the Kingdom of Navarra in 923, but the eastern area held out until the early 12th century, when it too was conquered by the Navarrese. At this time, La Rioja was a borderland between Navarra and Castilla with control shifting constantly until the latter definitively gained control in 1179. Only after the fall of Franco would La Rioja be detached from Castilla once more, becoming the least populous of the thenceforth 17 autonomous communities into which Spain is subdivided.
Under the Castilian kings, Alfaro’s status and privileges slowly increased. It was granted a town charter in 1253 and, by the time that Castilla had become the dominant force in a more or less united Spain, was granted city rights. However, as this was 1629 and given that Alfaro paid the crown a significant sum of money in exchange, it would appear that this change was in large part due to the persistent debts of the monarchy. Even so, Alfaro was definitely on the rise at this time, as evidenced by the construction of its collegiate church. Construction started in 1562, lasted for over a century, and resulted in what remains the largest religious building in La Rioja. This church is also notable for having no fewer than 700 storks living on its roof. With the economic boom period in the second half of the 20th century somewhat passing it by, Alfaro has not really expanded much since its 17th-18th century heyday. As we are in La Rioja, it should not be a surprise that wine is the most immediately visible component of the local economy. The town has not hosted the Vuelta before.
(picture by thierry llansades at Flickr)
The route
Despite there not being a single categorised climb before the MTF, the stage is not quite as unipuerto as it seems, given that there are over 3300 metres of elevation gain to deal with. Much of that climbing comes in the first 50 kilometres, with the section from Cornago to Alto de Villarroya being hard enough that Unipublic could have categorised it if they had wished to do so.
After a straightforward descent to Arnedo, the roads become flatter as the riders return to the edge of the Ebro valley and start actually heading in the direction of the MTF. The route avoids the regional capital Logroño, instead taking in some minor climbs at the bottom of Moncalvillo (which I sure wish was the finish instead). In fact, we are so close to Moncalvillo that the latter of the minor climbs here features in a profile of it. The Alto de Sorzano is 3.0k at 4.6%, while the Alto de Daroca is the section between 12.1k and 9.1k on this profile.
The peloton then joins the main pilgrims’ route to Santiago de Compostela for a bit, following it as far as the intermediate sprint in the cathedral town Santo Domingo de la Calzada. Here, the riders turn into the Oja valley. This is home to two climbs: the useless one to Valdezcaray which was introduced in 1988 and proved to be so uninteresting that thereafter it was only used for MTTs, and the interesting one to Cruz de la Demanda which became a Vuelta staple in the 1990s before falling into disuse after 2001. Since then, the Vuelta has been in the area twice, and just like the previous occasion in 2012, we are seeing the mistake of 1988 being repeated. In other words, welcome to what I consider to be the worst MTF in the history of GTs. Even Montevergine is not this awful. It’s probably a bit less bad when it’s late enough in the race for a breakaway day (as it is here), but even for a non-GC stage I would have preferred a finish that suits a wider range of riders and allows for a longer finale than a MTF.
Finish
Ezcaray is a medieval town with a once-flourishing textile industry, at the heart of the Oja valley. When that industry went into decline, so too did the town, until a decision was made that was great for the local economy, but terrible for cycling fans: they decided to build a ski resort with the shallowest access road known to man. As the resort is the closest for not just La Rioja, but also the Basque Country and most of Navarra, it’s fairly popular and should therefore sadly have the money to periodically host the Vuelta for the foreseeable future.
(picture by Juanje Orío at Flickr)
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