Date: Wednesday 10 September
Distance: 143km
Start location: O Barco de Valdeorras
Finish location: Alto de el Morredero. Ponferrada
Start time: 13:30 CEST
Finish time: 17:00 CEST
Oenophiles may recognise today’s start town of El Barco de Valdeorras for the white wines grown here. The Valdeorras Valley its nestled in alongside the Sil River is home to many vineyards where the Godello grape flourishes, a variety that had come close to extinction in the nineteenth century when a phylloxera infestation devastated the vines, but was resurrected by committed winegrowers to make what is among the popular wines in Galicia, known for its notes of citrus and green apples From El Barco de Valdeorras the riders will travel through the rolling terrain of eastern Galicia towards a finish at Ponferrada, a historic town known for its own even more precious commodity: gold. It was a literal gold mine during Roman times, where the Las Médulas site was exploited to unearth the riches lying beneath it, and grew to become the largest open-pit gold mine in all of the Empire, and over time shaped to give the landscape an almost extra-terrestrial look to it. Mining has since ceased here, but gold was still handed out to both Michał Kwiatkowski and recently-crowned Tour de France Femmes champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot when they won the men’s and women’s elite road races when Ponferrada hosted the World Championships in 2014.
While Ferrand-Prevot would certainly fancy her chances of winning on a stage like today, it will be too difficult for a puncheur like Kwiatkowski, as unlike the circuit used at the Worlds eleven years ago, this ends with a climb up Alto de El Morredero for the penultimate mountain top finish of this Vuelta a España. It looks set to be a very tough one, too. It’s steep enough to cause carnage, with an average of 9.7% sustained for a whole 8.8km that makes it one of the most severe of the race. And that accounts for only the official start of the climb; the road rises at 3% for almost 10km beforehand. With such difficult gradients, and without a climb harder than the category three Paso de las Traviesas tackled before it, this will be where all the action happens.
The dangers of going too hard too early on such a steep finish were felt by Alexander Vinokourov the last time Alto de El Morredero hosted a stage finish in 2006, as the Kazakh went from leading the race 500m from the top to sliding down to finish sixth. His main GC rival that year Alejandro Valverde overtook him for the stage win, but, despite the climb’s severity, didn’t make any great time inroads, gaining a mere 12 seconds on Vino while nine other riders finished within 30 seconds of him. Similarly, the mountain’s first appearance in 1997 saw only 12 seconds separate all but one of the top eight riders on GC, while ahead a young Roberto Heras claimed the first stage win of his illustrious Vuelta career. Its impact may therefore be more limited than its vital statistics might suggest.
Contenders
The two standout riders of this year’s Vuelta, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), will once again start as the main favourites heading into Stage 17, especially after their dominant performances on the some of the summit finishes. Almeida emerged strongest there, but both showed they are the riders to beat. With another summit finish, we could be set for a repeat showdown. If UAE decide to take the race to Visma again, expect fireworks on the steep ramps.
Behind them on the Angliru, Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Sepp Kuss (Visma) showed strong legs, finishing ahead of Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), and Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Procycling Team), who continues to defend third place overall. Another rider making a name for himself was Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech).
Stage 17 could also be a big opportunity for Juan Ayuso, Jay Vine, and Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) to try something from the breakaway. While their main task will likely be to support Almeida, don’t be surprised to see any of them go up the road early as satellite riders for a later GC push.
Several riders who lost time in week two may also target the break, either to support a team leader — like Matteo Jorgenson (Visma) for Vingegaard — or to chase a stage win or claw back GC time. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), stage 16 winner Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), and Junior Lecerf (Soudal Quick-Step), who lost time on stage 16, all fall into that category.
Other riders who could seize the opportunity from the breakaway include Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana Team), Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious), Kevin Vermaerke (Team Picnic PostNL), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), or stage 16's second-place finisher Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step).
Prediction
We think João Almeida win will stage 17.
