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La Vuelta a Espana: Stage 10 preview

John Degenkolb is continuing to improve as he returns to racing (Image: Team Sky)
Roar Guru
30th August, 2015
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The final day before the rest day, and the potential for a decent size bunch sprint, or a group of general classification riders. Once again, Stage 10 of La Vuelta a Espana will offer spectators some attacking racing.

The second category climb of the Alto del Desierto de las Palmas will offer up a great launching pad for a big attack.

The day before the first rest day of the race is fairly short, at only 147 kilometres. However, with two climbs on the agenda, and the nervousness of the bunch after the large crash on Stage 8, the riders will need to be attentive.

The first of these climbs is the Puerto de Oronet, which is a third category climb covered after 30 kilometres of racing. With the potential for this to be a stage for the breakaway, an attack off the front may still be trying to get away on the slopes of this climb.

The climb itself is not very difficult, with it being only six kilometres at an average gradient of 4.5 per cent. This is quite a similar climb to the final climb.

Riders will then descend for a short period of time, before hitting rolling roads for the next 20 kilometres. After this, another short descent before flat roads will be ahead of the riders for 40 kilometres before the intermediate sprint in Benicásim.

As the riders go through the intermediate sprint with 25 kilometres to go, they will set themselves up immediately for second category climb of the Alto del Desierto de las Palmas. With the climb cresting inside the final 20 kilometres, this will be potentially the final springboard for a late attack to stay away. However, the descent in the first part off the climb is quite technical, so riders could also attack there.

The climb itself is similar to the first climb of the day, but is slightly longer at 7.5 kilometres with an average gradient of 4 per cent. However, it is slightly steeper at the top.

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This climb could allow a sprinter like John Degenkolb to get over the top of, but it once again it all depends on the pace at which the peloton hits it at.

With the loss of Peter Sagan, and the potential that Degenkolb may not make it over the climb, this stage is wide open for a lesser known rider to grab an important stage win. Jasper Stuyven did it on Stage 8, who may it be on Stage 10?

The list is endless, with riders including Kevin Reza, Pelle Bilbao, Julien Simon, Giovanni Visconti, Jose Joaquin Rojas, Tosh van der Sande, Pieter Serry, Kristian Sbaragli, Daryl Impey, Simon Gerrans and Moreno Moser all potentially having a quick enough sprint on them to finish anywhere inside the top 10.

We also must not discount the breakaway winning this stage.

Today’s stage offers something for everyone, but who will take their chances?

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