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Three classified climbs are in front of the riders today on Stage 13 of La Vuelta a Espana, but will they shake up the field?
Before the next test in the high mountains tomorrow, the riders will face more characteristically lumpy roads as they make the 178-kilometre journey from Calatayud to Tarazona.
A break could prosper, or a punchy sprinter may come to the front. The stage has many possibilities that could potentially play out.
The riders will once again face an uphill start to the day’s stage, with the road climbing 300 metres in the first 10 kilometres. While this rise is unclassified, it will still sting the legs of an already weary peloton.
There is classified climbing on today’s stage after just over 40 kilometres, with the category three climb (8 kilometres at 3.5 percent) of Alto Collado de Oseja quickly followed by the major difficulty of the day, the category one climb of Alto de Beraton.
This climb is quite timid in contrast with the category one classified climbs on Stage 11, but will most certainly still play a factor in shrinking the peloton today. The climb is 11 kilometres long, but the first five is more like false flat than any difficult gradient. However, the rest of the climb after this point rises to around six per cent.
With the peak being completed with still over 100 kilometres to go, it may not be the decisive point, but if riders are stuggling at this stage you would think they would not be still in the front group for the finale.
Before the finishing sprint, though, there is another third category climb, this time in the challenge of the Alto de Moncayo. The whole climb according to Strava is 13 kilometres at around 2.5 per cent. Not terribly difficult, but with gradients over the last eight kilometres around five per cent, it will remove any of the riders who were struggling over the Alto de Beraton.
The run in to the finale in Tarazona is also quite difficult, with the final few kilometres being quite lumpy. A pure sprinter would be lucky to survive the preceeding 170 kilometres, and even if they did get to the final five they may just fall by the wayside.
A difficult stage, one where Giant-Alpecin’s John Degenkolb could be the man for the day if the breakaway does not take the spoils first.
Riders to watch out for today include Kevin Reza, Pelle Bilbao, Julien Simon, Giovanni Visconti, Jose Joaquin Rojas, Tosh van der Sande, Pieter Serry, Daryl Impey, Simon Gerrans, Moreno Moser, Julien Simon, Jens Keukeleire, Matteo Montaguti, Jose Gonçalves and Jean Pierre Drucker.
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