Less than 24 hours after the dust - and sand - has settled on the controversial stage one team time trial route of the 2015 Vuelta a España, stage two’s finish at Caminito del Rey is set to unleash the first battle in earnest for the overall.
The first summit finish of the race is ‘only’ rated as a third category climb and is just under four kilometres long. But the technical difficulty of the approach roads, combined with the hot weather, could well see the Vuelta peloton shatter before the final climb itself. The final ascent will then all but oblige the overall favourites to move to the fore in the race’s first big summit test.
The tension caused by such difficult terrain so early in the Vuelta will be heightened as a result of what is on offer, following the decision that Saturday’s times in the time trial would only count for the teams’ classification. Whoever crosses Sunday’s finish line first will therefore not only take the stage win, but also the first ‘real’ individual lead in the Vuelta, as well as - very possibly - the king of the mountains jersey.
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At 158 kilometres, the stage is comparatively short. But, as if to make up for that, the undulating trek through the sierras of Malaga begins almost as soon as the stage heads inland from the coast from Alhaurin de la Torre. In total, even if the highest point of the day’s racing is just 560 metres above sea level, they will cover some 2,200 metres of vertical climbing - roughly half the climbing involved in a major mountain stage in the Tour de France.
The hardest part, in any, case starts around kilometre 52, when the peloton start a lengthy lap-and-a-half of a 102-kilometre circuit that takes them deep into the Malaga mountains, past the foot of the Caminito del Rey climb and, via the third category climb of Ardales, back out towards the coast.
When the riders then repeat the first half of the same circuit before heading onto the climb to the finish, they will therefore know only too well what to expect as they approach it: narrow, twisting, sometimes poorly surfaced roads with barely a metre of flat, which could prove a tough test of both their physical strength and bike handling skills.
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