The Colombian attacked with Alberto Contador and 4 kilometres before the top he left the Spaniard behind. Quintana gobbled up early attacker Robert Gesink with 2.5 kilometres to go and soloed to victory. He took La Roja that day and wore it all the way to Madrid.
The 15th stage of the 2018 edition is one of three tough days in the Asturian mountains. The race travels over four KOM climbs, but there are plenty of non-classified uphills also. The Mirador del Fito is crested twice. The last time up is with 40 kilometres remaining. Firstly a 10 kilometres descent before the organisation thought it wise to bring yet another non-classified hill into the mix. The route climbs for 4.7 kilometres at 4.3% to the village San Martín de Bada. That statistic is biased though, as the climb is extremely irregular with ramps up to 10%. Possibly, the breakaway will end up fragmented on these slopes.
Following the descent the route slopes slightly for 10 kilometres before the ascent to the Lagos de Covadonga kicks in. The 12.2 kilometres toil is averaging 7.2%, but that’s yet another biased statistic as double digit ramps are scattered about the climb. Its steepest stretch? 20%!
Favourites 15th stage 2018 Vuelta a España
*** Nairo Quintana, Simon Yates, Miguel Ángel López, Steven Kruijswijk
** Alejandro Valverde, Wilco Kelderman, Rigoberto Uran, Thibaut Pinot, Enric Mas
* Vincenzo Nibali, Ilnur Zakarin, Bauke Mollema, Rafal Majka, Dylan Teuns
Vuelta a España 2018 stage 15: Route map, height profile, and more
Click on the images to zoom
Details Mirador del Fito (1)
Details Mirador del Fito (2)
Details Lagos de Covadonga
Profile final kilometres
Video final 5 K
3D bird’s eye route
Scheduled times 15th stage
Ribera de Arriba and Lagos de Covadonga at Google Maps
Route and profile
Instagram #lagosdecovadonga
Streetview Lagos de Covadonga
Climb to Lagos de covadonga at strava.com