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La Vuelta a Espana continues the hurt, as the race travels from Andorra and in to France to utilise the Peyragudes mountain pass.
If you are familiar with the 2012 Tour de France you may remember that Stage 17 also finished at Peyragudes, with a victory for Alejandro Valverde.
Stage 15 of la Vuelta a Espana sees the peloton journey 224.9km from Andorra to the Ski Resort at Peyragudes.
For a second consecutive stage in the Pyrenees the weather is forecast to be inclement.
Similar to Stage 14, rain and thunderstorms are predicted to be present throughout the entirety of the stage.
Whilst the temperatures will again be rather chilly for the peloton, with several riders already abandoning Stage 14 due to hypothermia.
There will be little respite from climbing for the peloton, with 4,180m of accumulated climbing and the first categorised climb of the day beginning just 7km in to Stage 15.
First climb on the agenda will be the Category 1 Puerto del Cantó, at a distance of 24.4km. Featuring an average gradient of 4.2%, the rugged climb begins with sections around 8-10% for the initial 5km.
After which the riders will begin a 19.5km descent, before beginning the ascent to the foot of the Category 1 Puerto de la Bonaigua. Which at 20km in length at an average gradient of 5.5%, with sections up to 12.5%, will not be easy on the legs.
The ruggedness of the climb helps lessen the average gradient of the climb, but make no mistake the majority of the climb has gradients of 6% or above.
The summit of the Puerto de la Bonaigua signals the beginning of a lengthy descent which concludes near to the foot of the Category 1 climb of the Col du Port de Balés. Where an average gradient of 6.2% over a distance of 19.2km awaits.
Once again the inconsistent nature of the slope means that the average gradient does not tell the entire story, with sections of up to 10.5%.
With the final five or so kilometres of the climb arguably the most challenging with gradients at, or above, 8%.
With the 15km descent that follows leading directly in to the foot of Category 1 Col de Peyresourde. Which is not to be mistaken for two different climbs on the stage profile, as the slopes are counted as just the one climb.
The Col de Peyresourde will be the shortest climb of the day, with its slopes measuring 16.7km in length.
A depression in the climb lowers the average gradient to 4.7%, but the ascent will feature sections of up to 13.33%.
A day of rugged and inconsistent climbs is personified by the Col de Peyresourde. With sections of 6% or above followed afterwards by sections at 5% or below.
Whilst the final kilometres approaching the finishing line take this ethos to its maximum. As the stage finishes on a something not exactly flat and yet not exactly a vertical climb either.
With the ramp preceding the Flamme Rouge at gradients of around 6%.
The final kilometre of Stage 15 is almost flat, at a gradient of 0.67%, and will favour those riders with a decent sprint from small reduced groups. As mentioned before, the final 50km of today’s stage were used in the 2012 Tour de France.
That day saw Alejandro Valverde claim the stage victory ahead of Team Sky. Valverde would be the type of rider suited to the finish were the stage to boil down to a sprint to the finishing line.
Unless several of the major General Classification riders are prepared to cooperate to control the breakaway for an opportunity at a stage victory, today seems like another good stage for the breakaway.
The tough mountain stages yet to come combined with the inclement weather will likely have Nibali, Horner, and Valverde eager to conserve energy. The absolute last thing either needs now is to overexert oneself and contract an energy sapping illness.
There will be several teams teams yet to claim a stage victory eager to position at least one rider within the breakaway. Predicting the ultimate make-up of the breakaway is terribly tricky.
However, some of the following teams will be eager to salvage something of their 2013 Vuelta a Espana campaign.
Perhaps the most notable name among the lot are Team Sky, who have no real General Classification threat with both Luis Sergio Henao and Rigoberto Uran far adrift on time.
Expect to see a presence in the breakaway from Caja Rural again, as they attempt to claim a massive stage victory.
Euskaltel-Euskadi will be eager to salvage more than just provisional 11th, 14th, and 17th placings in the General Classification.
Cofidis are another squad who will be seeking to improve their fortunates with a stage victory while BMC already have some stage honours to their name, with no real General Classification threat they will be eager to add another via someone like Ivan Santaromita.
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