Date: Sunday August 25, 2024
Distance: 178.5km
Start location: Motril
Finish location: Granada
Start time: 12:35 CEST
Finish time (approx): 17:16 CEST
To close off the opening week, the Vuelta a España ventures further south than it does for virtually any other stage of this year’s race. The riders will glimpse the Mediterranean coast for the first time for a start in Motril, a small town on the Costa Granadina that’s renowned for its production of sugar, and once again excessive heat could be a factor, before a long transfer over the rest day at last brings them out of Andalusia and to the other side of the country.
Today, though, the heat will be the least of their worries. After departing from Motril the riders travel north towards the Sierra Nevada mountain range, where the most challenging cluster of climbs so far at this year’s race awaits them. First up, having completed the first half of the stage over rolling roads, is the category one Puerto de El Purche, a 9km effort that averages 7.6%, and much of which rises at double-digit gradients.
Then comes a double-ascent of the even more difficult Alto de Hazallanas, a mountain that makes a mockery of all that came before it with its lethal average gradient of 9.5%. It ramps up to over 13% from the very bottom, and then, after a plateau for a few hundred metres, an even steep kilometre of nearly 15%. Things barely relent from there, with the next couple of kilometres still rising at over 11%, before it at last settles into a more reasonable 7% and then 4.5% for the final two kilometres to the top. But by then the damage will already have been done.
Alto de Hazallanas hosted a stage finish at the 2013 Vuelta, and what happened then could prove a precedent for today. That stage also took place on the last day of the first week, and the climb had a huge impact on the GC, as 41-year-old Chris Horner surprisingly rode away from the peloton halfway up to take victory, with Vincenzo Nibali the only man able to finish within a minute of him. That was the day those two riders emerged as the frontrunners for the red jersey, and they engaged in a close battle over the rest of the two weeks, Horner eventually coming out on top to become the oldest ever winner of a Grand Tour.
Unlike that day, the stage won’t finish atop Alto de Hazallanas, but descend 20km to Granada (against the backdrop of the city’s famous Islamic palace, Alhambra), but the climb is difficult enough to blow the race up regardless. And even the descent could itself be impactful — as was the case in 2006, when Alexander Vinokourov flew down it to put over a minute into Alejandro Valverde, taking the overall lead from him in what was ultimately the decisive turning point in the race for the leader's jersey that year.
Stage profile sourced via Vuelta website
Contenders
This is undoubtedly the hardest stage of the first week of the Vuelta, and one of the hardest of the entire race. There seems little doubt the GC contenders will come to the fore here, taking the opportunity to try and gain time on rivals and contest a stage win.
Despite trailing the overall leader Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) by nearly four minutes still, Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) has looked the strongest of the overall contenders so far, picking up two stage wins on the steepest finishes of the race so far. The Slovenian has often struggled more in the long, high mountains compared to the steeper summit finishes, but should the race come down to a small bunch finish Roglič is the clear favourite to outsprint the other climbers.
Race leader O'Connor will hope for a better day than he had on stage eight, but the longer climbs may be more suited to his attributes than the shorter, intense summit finishes.
Enric Mas (Movistar) has looked impressively consistent so far in this race, finishing second to Roglič on Saturday. He, like O'Connor, lacks the kick to take on Roglič in a fast finish so will need to extricate himself from the other GC riders to take a victory here. Not far behind has been his Spanish compatriot Mikel Landa (Soudal-Quick-Step), who would probably prefer this stage finishes at the top of the Alto de Hazallanas.
A number of riders who have struggled in the early part of this race appear to be in rising form and could contest the win. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) and Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) have looked better as the race has progressed, and they may both enjoy the longer climbs over the summits featured so far in the Vuelta. The same could be said for Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), though the defending champion appears to be way off his best so far.
Other contenders for victory include Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) Matthias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny), Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan), and the remaining UAE Team Emirates leader Adam Yates.
Stage nine winners prediction
We think Carlos Rodríguez will win stage nine of Vuelta.
