The riders will be thrilled that the first 120 kilometres of today’s stage is pan flat. They may not be so happy with what comes afterwards. Stage 9 of La Vuelta a Espana once again provides a hilltop finish, the hardest one to date thus far.
The race starts from the town of Torrevieja and heads along pancake flat roads for three quarters of the stage before the first difficulty of the day.
Riders will have to climb occurs the second category Alto de Puig Llorenca within the last 50 kilometres of the race. The climb is a measure of what is to come in the finale.
This second category climb averages out at over seven percent for four kilometres and will offer the first launching pad for attacks from the breakaway. Expect the general classification teams to be setting a heavy tempo on the climb.
The climb is completed with 42 kilometres to go. As the climb is crested, the riders face a quick descent, then flat roads until the intermediate sprint point in the town of Bahía de Jávea with a little under 15 kilometres to go.
Riders then will face a difficult lead into the final climb with lumpy roads and a fast descent. As Esteban Chaves has shown on both Stage 2 and Stage 6, being well positioned on these difficult hill top finishes can give you a major edge on your competition. Expect the speed therefore to be extremely fast in the run into the final.
The final climb to the finish of the El Poblenou Nou de Benitatxell is quite difficult to judge. The climb averages out at over nine per cent for four kilometres, but there are sections as low as two per cent, and as high as 19.
The first two kilometres average out at around six per cent, but the next 500 metres after this average out in the high teens. This leaves the riders with 1.5 kilometres to go, and there is a short period of respite at two per cent, before the road ramps up to 10 per cent for the final kilometre.
Once again, the general classification favourites will need to be on their game to not lose precious seconds.
As I alluded to earlier, Esteban Chaves has won two hilltop finishes thus far on Stage 2 and Stage 6 respectively. His explosiveness and willingness to attack on the steeper gradients give me reason to believe that he has the potential for stage win number three today.
He illustrated on Stage 7 that he will be able to handle the alpine stages, so everything is looking good for him in terms of being in the general classification battle for a little while to come.
The last two riders have featured in my favourites list for all of the hilltop and mountain finishes to date. Both Joaquim Rodriguez and Alejandro Valverde will like today’s final climb, and will be hoping that their respective teams can control the pace well to make sure that no late attacks get away, so a reduced group sprint contests the stage finish.
Other riders to look out for include Chris Froome, Fabio Aru, Mikel Landa, Dan Martin, Domenico Pozzovivo, Tejay van Gardaren, Daniel Navarro, Nairo Quintana, Louis Meintjes, Pierre Roland, and Rafal Majka.
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