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Hell is upon us. The riders face the toughest stage of many of their careers today, riding into the fearsome mountains of Andorra, and Stage 11 of the 2015 Vuelta a Espana could well be the defining stage of this year’s race.
With only 138 kilometres of racing after the rest day, a rider would be fairly happy to get this stage underway. What is unique about this stage though is the six – yes, six – categorised climbs: four category one climbs, a category two, and one unclassified climb.
To say this stage is bonkers is a complete understatement.
The riders will need to be on the rollers before the start, as the Collada de Beixalis greets them early.
While the climb is only 6.2 kilometres long, the average gradient of over 8 per cent and ramps of up to 15 will whittle down the field early. Expect huge time gaps today, and a large grupetto already formed after reaching the crest of this climb nine kilometres into the stage.
A technical descent 13 kilometres in length greets the riders before they head towards the Coll de Ordino. Another first category test, this one is a little longer at 9.6 kilometres, but only averages 7 per cent.
The next 26 kilometres are all downhill – the longest period of respite between climbs on the stage.
Any happiness will be short lived when they get to the early slopes of the first category climb of the Coll de la Rabassa. With gradients of over 10 per cent in the first part of the climb, the riders will feel the pain immediately. The latter sections of the climb are false flat, so the overall 13 kilometre test averages out at 7 per cent.
The climb tops out at over 1800 metres at the 66-kilometre to go mark, and with this, another short descent is quickly behind the peloton and the hors categorie climb of the Coll de la Gallina is directly ahead.
The climb is 12 kilometres long with an average gradient of 8 per cent. There are two flatter points of the climb, one at the top of the climb and one at 10 kilometres from the summit, which make the climb seem a little easier than it actually is.
With many ramps of well over 10 per cent, the Vuelta could well be won or lost on these slopes. If you are able to get over this climb in the front group, you can win the race overall. If you cannot do so, you will lose at least five minutes on the stage.
After another fast descent, the category two climb of the Alto de la Comella comes up on the riders. At just over 8 per cent for 4 kilometres, if riders had been dropped over the hors categorie climb, a short, sharp climb such as this will not be to their liking.
The final test is the first category climb of the Alto Els Cortals d’Encamp. At 8 kilometres at 8 per cent, it will make for a thrilling finale to a savage stage.
The riders to look out for include Chris Froome, Esteban Chaves, Nairo Quintana, Joaquim Rodriguez, Nicolas Roche, Fabio Aru, Mikel Landa, Alejandro Valverde, Rafal Majka, Domenico Pozzovivo, Mikel Nieve, Louis Meintjes and Daniel Moreno.
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