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Vuelta Ciclista a Andalucia - Ruta del Sol 2023 (February 15-19)

The classic counterpart to Algarve. After last year's weirdly mountain stage-free route, the organisation has made amends this year, introducing some traceur favourites along the way.

Startlist

The route
Stage 1: Puente de Génave - Santiago de la Espada, 179.0k
Oddly, the first stage is probably the queen stage. There are some big climbs here, but how will they be raced given that there are uphill finishes to come (and that only those stages have bonus seconds at the finish :rolleyes:)?

Captura-de-Pantalla-2023-01-23-a-las-10.47.00.png


Collado de los Yesos:
colladoyesosgenave32.gif


Onsares:
puertoonsaresvillarrodrigo32.gif


Navalperal (KOM at Tambor, but ridden in full):
navalperal_siles_13.png


Garganta de Hornos (until 2.3k below the summit - there are two way harder parallel routes, Collado del Yelmo/El Campillo and La Ballestera/Las Tejoneras, bit of a wasted opportunity...):
Cumbre2NW.gif


Despiernacaballos (beautiful scenery, hopefully the racing takes centre stage though):
desp_lt_13.png


Stage 2: Diezma - Alcalá la Real, 156.1k
Finally, at the third consecutive edition finishing in Alcalá, the organisation has figured out that there is some great terrain to put before the murito. The finish appears to be at the top of the fortress like in 2021, rather than the shortened version we had last year.

Captura-de-Pantalla-2023-01-23-a-las-10.47.38.png


Zegri:
ZegriS.gif


Los Rosales:
KUuKofb.png


La Hoya de Charilla (KOM at Hoya de Charilla but climb done in full):
fra_cha_13.png


Fortaleza de la Mota (the ramp up to the fortress itself is a mix of cobbles and hormigón, mostly the former):
53B8Hbv.png


Stage 3: Alcalá la Guadaira - Alcalá de los Gazules, 161.0k
More Alcalás, and more cobbled murito finishes. This one has been used in 2018 and 2019.

Captura-de-Pantalla-2023-01-23-a-las-10.48.09.png


Medina Sidonia:
ruta-del-sol-2023-stage-3-climb-ed247703b9.jpg


Final climb:
rep_agaz_18.png


Stage 4: Olvera - Iznajar, 164.8k
Another repeat finish town (this time from 2020 and 2022), another much-improved route. The HTF is also different than in the previous finishes here.

Captura-de-Pantalla-2023-01-23-a-las-10.48.39.png


Algamitas:
ZamoranoPruna07.gif


Cerro de San Cristobal (only the section between 5.9k and 3.0k):
AraceliNW.gif


Alto de Jaramillo:
jar_sol_23.png


Fuentes de Cesna:
671Jzz1.png


Finish:
Ho48RJS.png


(stage 5 in next post)
 
Stage 5: Otura - Alhaurín de la Torre, 184.3k
Another familiar finish, last used in 2019. That stage, featuring the same final KOM, was won by Matteo Trentin in a reduced bunch sprint, but this time the drag to the line is harder (with a 120-degree right-hander at ~100 metres to go for some reason) and, more importantly, the earlier parts of the stage feature much more climbing.

Captura-de-Pantalla-2023-01-23-a-las-10.49.07.png


El Cerrajón:
LuceroE.gif


Alto de los Bermejales:
BermejalesE.gif


Alto del Navazo:
navz_alh_19.png


Puerto del Sol:
SolE.gif


Los Nuñez:
vlg_ppal_19.png


Finish:
Vhe1ATK.png
 
Look forward to a Lombardía rematch of Pogacar vs. Mas. Realistically the classic season after the Vuelta last year was a lot of fun.

Really curious to see if Mas’s resurgence at the end of last year will carry over and whether he will reach his full potential as a contender this year.
 
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Look forward to a Lombardía rematch of Pogacar vs. Mas. Realistically the classic season after the Vuelta last year was a lot of fun.

Really curious to see if Mas’s resurgence at the end of last year will carry over and whether he will reach his full potential as a contender this year.
Well, he was already super strong in the spring last year. Just didn't get the results to show for it.
 
Well, he was already super strong in the spring last year. Just didn't get the results to show for it.
I agree. He looked much more explosive in the second half. It may just have been that he finally started to believe in himself which I have felt was always his biggest issue. He started attacking more early last year, but he wasn’t putting Pogacar under pressure like he did in Emilia, and on the climbs in Lombardía.
 
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