Date: Saturday 6 September
Distance: 136km
Start location: Avilés
Finish location: La Farrapona
Start time: 13:30 CEST
Finish time: 17:13 CEST
The mountain range of Asturias might be most famous for the Alto de l’Angliru, but there are plenty of other big summits here that have played a part in Vuelta a España history. And not just cycling history, but Spanish history, too. The high ground here in the Cantabrian mountains proved a safe haven for Spanish nobles during the Moorish invasion of Spain, and it was here in 722 that the Kingdom of Asturias was established, which would play a central role in the Reconquista, and reclamation of Spain for the Christian Spanish from the Moors.
As for Vuelta history, the Alto de Farrapona that comes at the end of today’s stage might
only have featured three times so far, but each has produced its fair share of drama. In
2020, David Gaudu and Marc Soler battled for the stage win from the break, Gaudu
eventually coming out on top when he at last managed to dislodge him 150m from the line.
Back in the peloton, the GC race was less eventful, with the two leading candidates
Primož Roglič and Richard Carapaz finishing together along with Dan Martin and Enric Mas, having proved inseparable on the climb. That was more down to them being evenly-matched than the mountain not being selective enough — they went into the stage on exactly the same time, and Roglič’s ultimate winning margin over Carapaz was just 24 seconds, the second smallest winning margin at the Vuelta in the past 41 years.
On the other occasions stages have finished atop Farrapona, the race has been more
selective. Alberto Contador and Chris Froome raced away from everyone else 5km from the top in 2014, and left their GC rivals floundering, Contador winning the stage and Alejandro Valverde and Joaquin Rodriguez both losing almost a minute. And in 2011, Juan José Cobo managed to put 20 seconds into the Sky pair of Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, while Vincenzo Nibali suffered on the climb and was dealt a knockout blow in his title defence, losing almost two minutes.
Today’s stage differs from those is that there are fewer climbs in total (just the three in total, including the modest category three effort of L’Alto Tenebreo), and that it lasts just the 136km, making it one of the shortest stages of this year’s Vuelta. But one of those climbs is still the Puerto de San Lorenzo, the same mountain that preceded Alto de Farrapona on those previous occasions, with an 8.5% gradient sustained for a whole 10km. And regardless, the Farrapona alone is still enough to cause carnage, especially as it nears the top, when the gradient jumps from a fluctuating and more modest first 12km to 10% for the final 5km.
Contenders
The two strongest riders of the Vuelta Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) will start as the favourites after what they have shown over the last two weeks, especially on the Alto de l'Angliru, where they were the strongest in the race, with the Portuguese coming out on top. We could be in for another battle in the Asturias mountains and if UAE bring the fight to Visma again, we can expect more fireworks.
The next best riders on the Angliru were Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Vingegaard's teammate Sepp Kuss who finished ahead of Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team, Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Procycling Team), who is in third place on the overall. Another rider who impressed on the Angliru was Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech), who is building nicely into the race and moved up to seventh overall.
Some riders like Juan Ayuso, Jay Vine and Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) could try their luck from the breakaway. However, they will most likely be doing domestique work for Almeida, but don't be surprised to see them up the road as satellite riders.
A few riders dropped further down the overall classification on the Angliru and could also feature in the break, either to help their team leader like Matteo Jorgenson (Visma) for Vingegaard, or to get time back on the GC or nab a stage win like Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) or Junior Lecerf (Soudal Quick-Step).
David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) has lost enough time to be allowed in the break and had a strong start to the Vuelta. As previously mentioned the Frenchman won on La Farrapona in 2020, the last time the Vuelta visited the climb.
Other riders who may fancy their chances from the breakaway include Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana Team), Javier Romo (Movistar Team), Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious), Kevin Vermaerke (Team Picnic PostNL), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team), Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) or Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step).
Prediction
We think Jonas Vingegaard will win the stage.
