Date: Sunday 18 August, 2024
Distance: 194km
Start location: Cascais
Finish location: Ourém
Start time: 11:50 CET
Finish time (approx): 16:19 CET
In the 1860s, politician and veteran of the Portuguese civil war Visconde da Luz helped organise a road to be built connecting Oeiras, the destination of yesterday’s stage, with Cascais, where the riders will depart from today. As a result, Cascais became a popular summer resort among the Portuguese royals and aristocracy in the subsequent decades, attracted by its pleasant beaches and climate, while exiled monarchs found refuge here in neutral Portuguese during World War Two. It continues to be a playground for today’s super-rich, so if you’re wanting to travel to see some of the Vuelta this year but strapped for cash, this might be one day to discount.
If you’re Catholic, though, then the finish Ourém may well be worth the trip. About 10km southwest of the town, near the city of Fátima, three shepherd children claimed to have witnessed several apparitions of the Virgin Mary here in 1917. A sanctuary has since been built to commemorate the miracle, growing to become a large complex of religious buildings including two basilicas, and has become one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in the world.
Stage two of the Vuelta a España won’t finish here, but rather in Ourém. The town’s most prominent site is its mediaeval castle, which looms over the city atop a hill, but rather than climb up to it the riders will finish in its shadow for a flat finale that should favour a bunch sprint. Bunch finishes are at a premium at most Vueltas, and this year’s edition is no kinder to the fastmen than usual, with a maximum of only five possible sprint stages after this and, in reality, likely to be less than that. This is a chance not to be missed.
But a sprint finish is not guaranteed. Although the roads are predominantly flat for most of the day, things get more complicated 26km from the finish when the riders will start climbing to the summit of Alto de Batalha. They will spend a total of 7.1km climbing it, and, though it averages out at only 3.3%, there are steeper ramps towards the start that could make a springboard for riders to attack out of the peloton. The sprinters’ teams must therefore brace themselves for likely attacks, but it doesn’t look hard enough for anyone to get too dangerous a lead, and there is plenty of time after it for the peloton to get organised and force what should be the first bunch sprint of the race.
Stage profile sourced via Vuelta website
Contenders
There are a few sprinters who have chosen to start the 2024 Vuelta due to the demanding course, and, therefore, the fast men who have opted to ride this three-week Grand Tour also boast good climbing legs. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), for example, will be a perfect rider for this stage as there are plenty of climbs on the menu but nothing too demanding. This is the type of parcours in which he thrives, so he'll be a firm favourite going into this first road stage of the race.
Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) will be another rider who boasts a fast finish and the ability to get through some tough, lumpy stages. He came so close to a stage win at the Giro d'Italia earlier this season, taking two third-place podiums and two second-place podiums. Last year, Groves won the points classifications as well as three stage wins, so will want to perform the same, if not better. Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) also will be a contender for this stage. His last stage win came at the Tour de Suisse in June, on a stage which features over 2,000 metres of climbing, so a good sign for this stage opportunity.
Tour de France stage winner this year, Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny) proved just how good a rider he is over tough terrain in the biggest race of the season. Israel-Premier Tech will hope that Corbin Strong can bring them a stage win in the sprint finishes of this race. He's had several top-10 finishes this season and showing good signs of things to come.
Other sprinters to watch out for will be Pavel Bittner (Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL), Arne Marit (Intermarché-Wanty), and Jon Aberasturi (Euskaltel-Euskadi).
Stage two winners prediction
We are backing Kaden Groves to take the first sprint opportunity.
