Stage 3: San Cristóbal de La Laguna - Pico del Teide
Vuelta's still on Tenerife.. and there's no Vuelta on Tenerife without a climb up the famous Pico del Teide! That's an early stage for GC-favourites and with "only" 4 summit finishes in this whole Vuelta, they have to prove their shape here. The stage doesn't feature the whole climb up the Teide, but it's still a 16km-climb at the end. And though it's not the steepest (6,5% in average), it will for sure split the group of favourites until finish. A highlight-stage!
Screens
Spoiler:
Three riders pull clear..
Final km.. Teide in the background!
Contador wins!
The Vuelta leaves Tenerife and is back on well-known terrain. Time for a first completely flat stage without any difficulties. It's a perfect stage for the top-sprinters and we can expect a mass-sprint here. Thanks to the 3rd stage up the Teide, there will be some big gaps in the peloton though.. so even the flat stages could become interesting now in case of some breakaways, that may succeed.
Screens
Spoiler:
Start at the Sea..
Breakaway..
Mass-sprint won by Cav!
Another flat stage like yesterday. The first half of the stage goes uphill, but there's no real difficulty. There's still a chance for a breakaway though. It won't be the last chance for the sprinters, but they should take every chance they get: there's not that much flat stages, which suit a "flat sprinter" that well.
Screens
Spoiler:
Breakaway..
Easter-Egg: tractors building a bike..
Breakaway-win!
@Pelli2: Thanks! I thought it would be funny to add a tractors-Easter Egg
Stage 6: Merida - Guadalupe
Today the Vuelta will visit a famous spot: Guadalupe, where you can find the "Royal Monastery of Santa Maria de Guadalupe". It was the most important monastery in the country for more than four centuries. It is protected by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site... the stage becomes interesting on final 3kms. The final climb up to Guadalupe is most probably too short, to cause any bigger gaps, but a strong and powerful attack may give a GC-favourite a small advantage.
Screens
Spoiler:
Final climb..
Solo-win out of a break..
Schleck gains 10" on the pack!
This stage is defintely for the sprinters.. the first 40kms are not so easy, but it's unlikely that the peloton will be split here. But the sprinters have to watch for the final 3kms: although it's far from a difficult uphill-sprint, it's worth mentioning that's a steady-uphill to finish.
@abel2323: Thanks! I hope the stage looks like your real city..
Stage 8: Montehermoso - Ciudad Rodrigo
There's one question today: will the favourites let a breakaway go? Or will someone try to attack 40km before finish? This stage looks like a perfect breakaway-day.. and if there's no dangerous rider in it, it's unlikely that the peloton will split too much.. but if the pace is high, this stage will be interesting: a Cat.1-climb can always do some suprises
A long stage with some minor difficulties at the beginning of the stage, which won't cause any problems for weaker climbers though.. This stage may go to a sprinter, as there's not much chances left now: tomorrow's ITT in Valladolid and then we will see a next mountain-stage! So the top-sprinters will go all-in today.
The second time for the riders to fight against the clock. But this time it's way more crucial than the prologue on Tenerife: 33km of mostly flat roads (except of one short climb, that shouldn't hurt the legs too much). It's not the longest timetrial, but it's a great chance for the weaker climbers to gain some time back! Tomorrow's 2nd mountain-stage of this Vuelta will be the queen-stage of this race, so you need to get in position today.
@Pelli2: Correct Maybe a bit too easy with the real picture.. but anyway - here's the 11th stage:
Stage 11: Valladolid - Bola del Mundo
Half of the Vuelta's over and which finish could be better than Bola del Mundo now? One week ago we had the first mountain-stage with a summit finish on Pico del Teide and now it's time for a famous climb: Bola del Mundo. It's a long stage with two tough climbs in final 50km (Puerto de Navacerrada is the first to climb). This stage will most probably lead to bigger gaps than the Teide-stage: the final 3km up to the finish feature slopes up to 12,5%! It will definitely be a highlight of this Vuelta: the Bola del Mundo!
Screens
Spoiler:
Climbing Navacerrada.. Bola in background..
Conta tries to fight back!
But Evans wins!
This stage won't be as selective as yesterday's queen-stage to Bola del Mundo.. but it's definitely a tough day: three 1st categor-climbs will split the peloton and there's even a chance for a solo-win by a GC-favourite. Most likely will be a group of 15-20 riders fighting for today's win. Definitely an interesting profile - the favourites have to watch for their components.
Screens
Spoiler:
Last climb..
A small leading group!
Ignatiev wins!
