Vuelta 2020 Favourites stage 12: Heroism at El Angliru

So it is a relatively short race and since the first 26 kilometres are flat the climbing becomes even more condensed. The first two climbs, Alto del Padrún and Alto de San Emiliano, are perfect to stretch the legs before La Vuelta serves Alto de Mozqueta (6.6 kilometres at 8.4%) and Alto de Cordal (5.4 kilometres at 9.3%. Riders will get a first taste of the Angliru on the Cordal climb, as it is a sort of miniature version with shallow gradients playing leapfrog with excessively steep ramps.

Of course the race comes down to the Alto El Angliru and to the last 7 kilometres in particular. Steep, steepest, steepest. Riders almost come to a standstill and attacking is virtually impossible with ramps up to 23.5%. It is more the other way around. Only the strongest climbers survive, while others drop of the back before the Angliru treats the ultimate survivor to a 400 metres descent to the line.

Favourites 12th stage 2020 Vuelta a España

*** Primoz Roglic, Aleksandr Vlasov
** Enric Mas, Daniel Martin, Richard Carapaz
* Sepp Kuss, Wout Poels, Michael Woods, Ion Izagirre

Another interesting read: route 12th stage of the 2020 Vuelta.