It's the beginning of the end. The curtain goes up this Friday on the mountain finale of the 2018 Vuelta a España, with two very difficult – and very different – climbing stages in Andorra on the menu for the weekend.
Can Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) hold onto la roja for Britain's fifth Grand Tour in a row? Or will Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) keep on holding back the years and oust Yates from his leader's jersey for his second Vuelta a España victory? Or will any of the other challengers, starting with Spain's up-and-coming GC racer Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors), currently running these two the closest, be able to upset the Vuelta applecart completely?
The first chance to answer these questions comes on Friday in the shape of a classic 154km single-climb stage starting in Lleida, Catalonia, and culminating on the other side of the border on the Col de la Rabassa in Andorra. Stage 19 has 2,618 metres of vertical climbing, which may not sound like a lot, but on such a short stage, it means the riders are going upwards nearly all day.
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The stage's sting in the tail, the Col de la Rabassa, is officially 17km long, but in reality it starts when the riders pass through the customs post on Andorra's southern frontier at 860 metres above sea level, and doesn't stop until they reach a lung-bursting 2,025 metres above sea level at its summit.
Last used by the Vuelta a España as a summit finish in 2008, Alessandro Ballan won there alone just a few days before taking the World Championships road title, which may give Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) some ideas if he gets in an early breakaway.
Overall, though, it might be of interest that the top three riders in Madrid that year – Alberto Contador, Levi Leipheimer and Carlos Sastre – were separated by a mere five seconds at the summit of the Rabassa. Valverde, who said he forgot to eat that day, blew badly and lost nearly four minutes. But with advantages being so narrow on the 2018 GC, and only two more stages remaining in the Vuelta this year – and not 14 left, like there were back in 2008 – there is far less likely to be a repeat of the stalemate of a decade ago.
Saturday's short-but-intense finale
The fatigue factor
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/andorran-climbs-will-decide-2018-vuelta-a-espana-preview
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