{"id":193796,"date":"2023-08-25T12:49:54","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T12:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=193796"},"modified":"2023-08-25T12:50:57","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T12:50:57","slug":"what-we-should-expect-of-this-years-la-vuelta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2023\/08\/25\/what-we-should-expect-of-this-years-la-vuelta\/","title":{"rendered":"What We Should Expect Of This Year\u2019s La Vuelta"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 78th Edition of the Vuelta Espana, the third and final Grand Tour of the year after the Giro D\u2019Italia and the Le Tour de France, gets underway on Saturday 26th of August in Barcelona and will conclude three weeks later in Madrid after 3,153.8km, where the final Red Jersey or \u2018maillot rojo\u2019 will be awarded. <\/strong><\/p>\n

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Year after year, the Vuelta seems to get a wonderfully stacked field, packed with the finest Grand Tour talent on the planet. This year is no exception, but before we look at the field, let\u2019s take a run through some of the route highlights. Unsurprisingly, it\u2019s another race for those who can climb!<\/p>\n

Host city Barcelona in Catalonia provides the setting for the opening 14km Team Time Trial, a recent theme of the Spanish Tour. Following that, there\u2019s a rolling stage for the few puncher\/sprinters, then on stage 3 we have our first mountain-top finish at Arinsal\/Andorra, which will be climbed for the first time. The hills continue with very little respite through stages 4 and 5, although these aren\u2019t necessarily going to be GC days. Stage 6 sees yet another mountaintop finish at the Observatorio Astrofisico de Javalambre. I should mention at this point that there are 10, yes, 10 mountaintop finishes in this year\u2019s race. Makes you exhausted just thinking about it!<\/p>\n

Stage 7 sees one of the few chances for any sprinters, as we head to Oliva in Valencia, before a couple of brutally hilly days to Xorret de Cati and Caravaca de la Cruz respectively, taking us into the welcome first rest day.<\/p>\n

Hopefully refreshed, the field then tackle the only Time Trial of the Vuelta on stage 10, a 25.8km flat test in and around Valladolid, the capital of the autonomous community of Castilla y Le\u00f3n in Northwest Spain. Stage 11 sees a flat run to the bottom of La Laguna Negra, Vinuesa before yet another uphill finish. Stage 12 is hilly but with no categorised climbs, so could see a group finish, before the GC battle resumes on the epic stage 13 and its foray into France, with a summit finish atop the mighty Col du Tourmalet in the Pyrenees. Another hill-top finish awaits the riders on stage 14 before a lumpy run and a probable breakaway day from Pamplona to Lekkunberi.<\/p>\n

The final rest day will be needed as the last 6 days of this year\u2019s Vuelta are truly punishing. Starting things off is another hill-top finish on stage 16 to Bejes, but this is a mere warm up for what lies ahead on stage 17 and another visit to the top of the infamous Agliru, one of the most feared climbs in the world. Incredibly, the mountains aren\u2019t finished yet, as we have yet another high finish at La Cruz de Linares to end stage 18.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a brief pause for breath and an opportunity for any remaining fast cyclists to Iscar on stage 19, then it\u2019s climbing for the last time on stage 20 and the final chance for any GC movements on the 207km journey from Manzanares El Real to Guadarrama, punctuated by 10 short but steep climbs that looks as if it will be very difficult to control and has the profile of a crocodile\u2019s teeth. Stage 21 will see the usual sprint procession in and around the streets of Madrid, where the deserved winner will be crowned. Who will it be? Read on.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with defending Vuelta champion and new World Time Trial Champion Remo Evenepoel. He\u2019s had a tremendously successful year, but it was a case of \u2018what could have been\u2019 at the Giro, where he was forced to withdraw due to illness. His Soudal Quick-Step team are solid, but don\u2019t have quite the strength as Jumbo Visma or UAE Team Emirates and this year\u2019s climbs contain some far steeper, longer ascents which will thoroughly examine Evenepoel\u2019s ability on this sort of climb, especially against this year\u2019s opposition.<\/p>\n

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Presentaci\u00f3n de equipos \ud83d\udd1d<\/p>\n

Teams presentation \u2705#LaVuelta23<\/a> <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcf8 @charlylopezph<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/D7aw5zheoC<\/a><\/p>\n

— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) August 24, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n