The final stage of La Vuelta is very straightforward. The route features two climbs. The Collada Moandi around the midway marker, the climb the Los Lagos at the end. The rest of the race is played out on flat to rolling terrain.
After a flat opening the Collada Moandi serves as ideal warm-up climb. It’s a narrow road that’s winding it’s way up to an elevation of 665 metres. Effectually, the road starts to go up at kilometre 36, but the gradients are getting serious in the last 9 kilometres – mostly hovering between 7% and 9%.
The riders descend to the Sella River to follow the valley to Cangas de Onís, the village at the base of the ascent to the renowned glacial lakes. The surrounding scenery is spectacular and the same goes for the climb. The average gradient of the 12.5 kilometres long test sits at 6.9%, but that’s really a meaningless statistic. The first 7 kilometres rise at approximately 10% before the profile changes and short drops start playing leapfrog with 20% ramps.
The Lagos de Covadonga are situated at over 1,000 metres above sea level. The road stops here, so there is only one side to ascend to the lakes.
The intermediate sprint comes with time bonuses of 6, 4 and 2 seconds, while the first three riders on the line gain 10, 6 and 4 seconds.
Ride the route yourself? Download GPX 7th stage 2023 Vuelta Femenina.
Another interesting read: results 7th stage + final GC 2023 Vuelta Femenina.
La Vuelta Femenina 2023 stage 7: route & profiles
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