Vuelta 2017 Route stage 16: Los Arcos

Vuelta 2017 Route stage 16: Los Arcos - Logroño

Slideshow 1/14

Tuesday, 5 September 2017 - At 40.2 kilometres, the 16th stage in the Vuelta is an individual time trial with some nasty short climbs in the middle section. The route travels from the Circuito De Navarra in Los Arcos to Logroño. It is the only ITT in the 2017 Vuelta a España.

The starting ramp is installed on the Circuito De Navarra near Los Arcos. This is a motorsport race track that’s also used for F-1 testing.

The first 5.5 kilometres are on the race track before the riders head for Los Arcos and take the NA-1110 to target Logroño. Shortly before entering the city’s perimeters they cross the border to the wine region La Rioja. With a population of 113,000, Logroño is its capital.

The course runs on flat to gently rolling roads with the exception of the middle section. No tough climbs, mind you, but on a time trial bike the hurdles can be quite tricky. At kilometer 15.4 a 500 metres stretch goes up at 7%; at kilometre 17.2 there is a 1 kilometre slope at 4.5%; at kilometre 19 another kilometre is slightly steeper (4.9%); at kilometre 20.5 a 500 metres stretch at 3.2% runs to the highest point of the day, while at kilometer 23.8 the last serious slope accounts for 1 kilometre at 5%.

Stage 12 of the 2014 Vuelta was almost entirely played out in the city. Both start and finish were in Logroño and the race consisted of eight 20 kilometres laps. After a big crash in the finale John Degenkolb sprinted to victory, thus stepping in his own shoes. Two years before, in 2012, he powered to the win in the ‘wine capital’, too.