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Vuelta a Espana 2016: Stage 12 live race updates, blog

1st September, 2016
Distance: 193.2km
Start: Los Corrales de Buelna
Finish: Bilbao
TV: Live on Eurosport from 11pm (AEST)
Stage Betting: Brambilla $11, Sanchez, Valverde and Felline $12, Fraile $17
Chris Froome may be aiming to take the red leader's jersey on tonight's stage of the Vuelta.
Editor
1st September, 2016
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Riders will be flirting with the northern coastline of Spain on today’s Stage 12 as the hunt for red at the 2016 Vuelta a Espana continues. Join The Roar from 11pm (AEST) for all the live race highlights and updates.

Chris Froome took out his second career Vuelta stage win on yesterday’s Stage 10 to move up into second, closing in on red jersey leader Nairo Quintana.

The Colombian Quintana holds a 54 second lead over the Brit, with home country hero Alejandro Valverde a further 11 seconds back to round out the podium.

After more than a few uphill finishes on the tour so far, the riders will be working with a 28.5km circuit around Bilbao, including a category two climb that the peloton will have to tackle twice.

Earlier in the day though, the field will be hit with a very sharp rise and subsequent descent just a few kilometres into the day, before riding the flats up to the first category climb of the day, which also happens to be the biggest.

The Puerto de Las Alisas rises over 600m in a 10km stretch, averaging around 6% gradient, but sits as high as 8.5 per cent in some sections of the climb.

A similar angle on the other side sees the riders descend for 10km after the peak and flattening out for about 20 before the second of the day’s major climbs.

The category three Alto La Escrita is shorter and not as steep, coming in at 6.4km in length with an average 4.5 per cent rise. The riders will fall over the peak and into the feeding zone as they prepare for the second half of the day.

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The finishing circuit begins with 57km to go, just a couple of kilometres after entering Bilbao. The category two climb on the circuit is a tough one, averaging at 8.5 per cent for a touch over four kilometres.

It’s much easier into the intermediate sprint (that turns into finish line on the second lap) on the other side, though, coming off the back of a 10km descent and short flat section.

That last run into the line will carry a lot of pace for the riders and will be used as a massive launching pad into a final sprint, or just the kind of opportunity the breakaway needs to get themselves home in front of the chase.

It’s been five years since this lapped finish at Bilbao was used in the Vuelta and it should provide a good challenge for the riders, as well as the opportunity to shake up the standings with an exciting finish.

Omar Fraile has been thrown around a lot as a stage favourite, as has the usual suspects in Brambilla and Sanchez.

Froome is expected to hang back around the pack after a big last couple of days, but watch that space if Quintana shows any signs of weakness over the final two climbs, giving the three-time Tour de France winner a shot at the leader’s red jersey.

Valverde would be favoured in a bunch sprint if Movistar can reign in any kind of breakaway, but if he falls behind on the long opening climb, or tires at the back end of the day, then he could lose a lot of time in the GC standings.

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