Vuelta 2016 Favourites stage 11: Attacker with punchers legs

Vuelta 2016 Favourites stage 11: Attacker with puncher’s legs

Leading over flat to rolling roads, stage 11 in the Vuelta a España basically is a prelude to the 5.9 kilometres closing climb. The Peña Cabarga comes with an average gradient at 9.4%, while the steepest sector at 18% lies 800 metres under the top. Chances are one of the breakaway riders is going to win the 11th stage in the Vuelta. (Slideshow route/profile)

If the closing climb had not been in the route, is goes without doubt the teams of the sprinters would have controlled the race. However, in this case it doesn’t make sense. As there’s is not a lot to gain for the GC-guys either we can expect the race to boil down to an attackers party.

The 2013 Vuelta a España brought the last finish to Peña Cabarga with Vasil Kiryienka barely surviving the closing climb. He hit the foot with a 2 minutes lead and at the top there was half a minute left.

Previous editions of the Vuelta saw Ángel López del Álamo (1979), Joaquim Rodriguez (2010) and Chris Froome (2011) climbing to slory. Yet, this year brings a somewhat unusual race to Peña Cabarga with a lot of flat before hitting the climb.

Favourites 11th stage Vuelta a España

*** Leopold König, Thomas De Gendt, Robert Gesink, George Bennett
** Louis Vervaeke, Alexandre Geniez, Darwin Atapuma, Kristijan Durasek
* Andrey Zeits, Omar Fraile, Luis Angel Mate, Davide Formolo, Pierre Rolland