The 2023 Vuelta a España returns to the high mountains with a vengeance next September, with the renowned ascents of the Col du Tourmalet and the Alto de l’Angliru looking set to shape the race.
While the 2022 race was all but decided in the mid-race time trial in Benidorm, the demanding 2023 route is much more likely to favour the out-and-out climbers.
A return to the Pyrenees, three major summit finishes in the first week and a very tough final run through the Picos de Europa and Sierras de Guadarrama mountains all feature in a race which kicks off in Barcelona on August 26th and concludes in Madrid on September 17th after 3,153 kilometres.
As a former racer and multiple Vuelta podium finisher, Joaquim Rodríguez observed when the route was presented in Barcelona on Tuesday evening, “there’s a mid-race time trial in Valladolid, but I don’t think it’ll be tough enough to change the overall outcome in favour of the climbers.”
In marked contrast to 2022’s flat trio of opening stages in the Netherlands, after a short, nervous team time trial through the streets of Barcelona, the first major trek into the mountains of the 2023 Vuelta comes as soon as stage 3 into Andorra, with a first category summit finish at Suria-Arinsal.
48 hours later, having U-turned and headed south back into Spain, another difficult first-category ascent to the Javalambre, last used in the 2019 Vuelta a España, awaits the riders. But if the approach roads to the Javalambre on narrowing twisting roads in the little-known province of Teruel are arguably as tough as the final climb, the 20% slopes of Xorret de Cati on stage 8 just before the finish will surely see the sparks fly between the GC favourites.
After a long transfer north, the only individual time trial of the race on stage 10 through the flatlands of Valladolid could give the specialists against the clock a chance to shine. However, even before the riders hit the Pyrenees, they will have to tackle the onerous ascent to Laguna Negra de Vinuesa on stage 11, where Dan Martin triumphed against the GC favourites with a blistering late charge for the line.
The first full mountain stage comes 48 hours later as the Vuelta makes its return to the Tourmalet for the first time in 38 years. The last time it appeared was in 1995 when it was used en route to a finish at Luz Ardiden. This time it forms an unprecedented summit finish on one of the Tour de France’s most hallowed climbs. Preceded by the Col d’Aubisque and another arduous…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…