Darwin Atapuma will look to continue his stranglehold on the red jersey on Stage 8 of the Vuelta a Espana, but that will require him to climb with the best of them on the 181.5 kilometre journey to the brutal Alto de la Camperona. Join The Roar for live coverage from 10:45pm (AEST).
The stage is fairly easy for all of about 170 kilometres although a lot of that is on a fractional false flat.
Setting out in Villalpando, there are a couple of lumps and bumps but nothing overly difficult with an overall altitutde gain of about 200 metres.
From there though, the riders take on the only major obstacle of the day, being the Category 1 summit finish of the Alto de la Camperona, finishing at La Camperona. Valle de Sabero.
The climb is absolutely brutal, and even more so than what the numbers suggest. In the official race programme, it’s 8.5 kilometres at 7.4 per cent. However, that doesn’t take into account that the first three kilometres are two, three and five per cent respectively, making for a brutal last five kilometres.
The maximum gradient is a huge 25 per cent, and there are other less full-on sections throughout the climb meaning it will suit an attacking climber.
The final two kilometres average out at 20 per cent as well, so going early won’t neccessarily reap the rewards.
Prediction
Chris Froome hasn’t made his mark yet as he normally does early in Grand Tour’s, so it would be no surprise to see him go on the attack up the final climb, looking to put time into his rivals.
In saying that, it’s tough to judge exactly what his form is. Both Nairo Quintana and Esteban Chavez are right up there as well, and those three look to be the ones who will come to the finish line together.
The problem for the Tour de France winner is that this is man vs man. You can’t use teammates with the gradient, so it’s down to how Froome hangs onto attacks.
With it being a long, flat stage, it’s also possible that a breakaway will run away to take stage honours again if a small group can get away early without too many passengers.
I also fully expect Atapuma to lose his stranglehold on the race lead – this is ridiculously steep, and while he can go with attacks in the mountains, he isn’t a GC contender and this climb is probably going to be a bridge too far.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of Stage 8 from 10:45pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
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Scott Pryde
Expert
That'll do it here! Hopefully you enjoyed The Roar's live coverage of the Vuelta a Espana this evening as Nairo Quintana moved into the overall race lead on Stage 8. Be sure to tune in tomorrow night as Connor Bennett guides you through another massive day in the mountains. I'll be back Monday Night, but also tomorrow afternoon for some NRL from 2pm. Bye for now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Race Results Nairo Quintana has put in a fantastic attack on the steep slopes of the Alto de la Camperona to take the red jersey during Stage 8, while Sergey Lagutin took stage honours out of the breakaway. It was clear early on in the piece that it was going to be two races within a race, as the peloton allowed the breakaway to disappear up the road early on. The 11 rider group would originally stabilise at around seven minutes, but eventually build to a maximum advantage of 10 and a half minutes, with BMC not interested in keeping things close for Darwin Atapuma's red jersey. Leading into the climb, and the battle for positioning started meaning the gap was obviously going to come down, but the damage had already been done. The attacks came out of the breakaway, however after a long range attack from Jhonathan Restrepo, it would be teammate Lagutin to capitalise and take the victory. Back in the peloton, Alejandro Valverde was the first man to launch, and despite originally looking in difficulty, Chris Froome would follow and then launch. Both Nairo Quintana and Alberto Contador looked like they would be able to go with the move, but eventually Contador dropped back as Quintana attacked. Froome was holding a gap of about 20 seconds, but it wasn't all the way to the finish line with Contador eventually sweeping round him, just a few hundred metres out. Esteban Chavez was also dropped and lost big time to his rivals for the general classification. In the end today though, Quintana moves into red with Atapuma being dropped, while Lagutin claims a big win for Katusha, their first since the Giro d'Italia.
Scott Pryde
Expert
General Classification 1. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) @ 29:55:54 2. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) + 0:19 3. Chris Froome (Sky) + 0:27 4. Esteban Chavez (Movistar) + 0:57 5. Leopold Konig (Sky) + 1:16 6. Darwin Atapuma (BMC) + 1:36 7. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) + 1:39 8. Daniel Moreno (Movistar) + 1:44 9. Gianluca Brambilla (Etixx) + 1:46 10. Samuel Sanchez (BMC) + 1:46
Scott Pryde
Expert
Top 10 1. Sergey Lagutin (Katusha) @ 4:09:30 2. Axel Domont (Ag2r La Mondiale) + 0:10 3. Perrig Quemeneur (Direct Energie) + 0:17 4. Mattia Cattaneo (Lampre) + 0:24 5. Pieter Serry (Etixx) + 0:40 6. Janse Van Rensburg (Dimension Data) + 0:55 7. Scott Thwaites (Bora-Argon 18) + 1:11 8. Gatis Smukulis (Astana) + 1:30 9. Jhonatan Restrepo (Katusha) + 1:30 10. Loic Chetout (Cofidis) + 1:44
Scott Pryde
Expert
Riders will keep dribbling across the line here, but that was an absolute punish of a climb. Results and report to follow shortly.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Atapuma now crosses the line about 2 minutes behind Quintana. Gallant effort from the red jersey, but not enough to hang on in the end.
Scott Pryde
Expert
What a brutal climb that was, but a great attack from Quintana and some vital seconds. He should move into red.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Froome is in all sorts! Caught by Contador who dances straight around him. Contador stops the clock about 26 seconds behind Quintana with Froome crossing the line alongside Valverde who was about 100 seconds further back. Chavez has lost big time as well.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Froome is trying to save every second up to the line as well. Quintana stops the clock 4:41 down.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Time gap is reading 20 seconds behind Quintana and Froome now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Quintana will fight for every second with 300 metres to go, but he is going to make a time gain over all his other GC riders and possibly move into red. Better get a stopwatch ready - he is only 6 seconds behind Froome.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Quintana now into the barricaded area and it looks like he has at least 20 seconds to Froome. Contador is even further back in a four-rider group with Chavez and Valverde.
Scott Pryde
Expert
The road is narrow and steep but Quintana is in full flight riding away from Froome here! Finally, Quintana is back! It's been a tough year but what an attack this is.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Contador is dropping away badly here as well.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Now Quintana has attacked over Froome and he is in the lead through 1km to go, opening the lead over Froome rapidly.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Froome looked bad? Ha! Forget about it! He has lit it up and only Quintana can go with him. Contador and Chavez both going backwards.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Lagautin has gone for it from 200 metres out. Domont is the only one who can even stay near him, but no one is stopping the Katusha rider who takes the stage win! Sergey Lagutin Wins Stage 8 Domont second, Quemeneur third.
Scott Pryde
Expert
400 metres to go and it is Domont, Lagutin and Quemeneur who have broken from the rest of the riders here.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Valverde and Contador sitting on the front of this contenders group now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Froome has managed to get back into the main contenders group, just tapping out his normal rhythm that noone can match.