The penultimate big challenge of the 2016 Vuelta a Espana, Friday’s individual time trial course, is anything but straightforward, and has plenty of potential to produce some important time gaps between the favourites.
The route runs largely along coastal roads from two tourist resorts, Xabia to Calp, much of which will be familiar to the teams - particularly Belgian and Dutch ones - that come in large numbers to train in the area over the winter months.
Support for non-Spanish riders is likely to be high. The area is very popular among foreign tourists looking for a late summer tan amidst the high-rises, swimming pools and chalets that are crammed along the coast here, with a high percentage of British, Russian and German visitors.
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But for all the area will be familiar to many Vuelta riders, and although there are none of the mountain roads that feature so often in the race, the 37 kilometres between Xabia and Calp are far more challenging than the comparatively benign route profile - with a mere 330 metres of vertical climbing - would suggest.
First off, the strong winds in the area blowing in off the Mediterranean are likely to take their toll, not to mention the very high temperatures and humidity. And that’s even before the damage caused by a time trial route with five very different sections is taken into account.
More on the TT:
- Full start times
- Quintana hoping to continue momentum in time trial
- Contador upbeat for crucial Vuelta time trial test
The first part, running for about four kilometres alongside the beach in the town of Xabia, is relentlessly flat, mostly straight, and is likely to favour the specialist time triallists. But then after taking a right-hander and weaving its way inland, the road begins - almost imperceptibly - to climb.
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