2013 Vuelta a Espana route: A treble treble of roads to hell

Readers of a certain age may remember a Chris Rea song entitled The Road to Hell. It was written about London’s M25, but could easily have been about the route for the 2013 Vuelta a España, which was unveiled in Vigo today. Featuring 11 summit finishes – a record for a Grand Tour – this year’s 68th edition offers little succour to either time trial specialists or to the top sprinters, many of whom will opt for the road to the armchair rather than endure the inevitable suffer-fest.

Tim and Sheree have been busy delving into the detail of this year’s course. Here are their immediate reactions.

The route

The parcours is built around three sets of back-to-back-to-back summit finishes – in the Andalucia, Pyrenees and Cantabria/Asturias regions – which bring each of the race’s three sections to a dramatic climax and will stretch riders’ endurance to their limits.

The opening ten-day ‘week’ gives riders little opportunity to ease their way in. After an initial 27km team time trial, three days of increasing severity in the Galician hills will quickly see the general classification take on a recognisable shape.

The highlight of the initial stint is the closing three Andalucian stages, as the race returns to the south of the country after bypassing it altogether in 2012. Stages eight and ten feature concluding climbs new to the Vuelta. The 16km Peñas Blancas consists of a series of sharp ramps and short descents on narrow, twisty roads – perfect for any would-be attackers – before a long uphill drag. And the 16.5km Haza Grande averages 9.2% and reaches 22% in places. In between, we have the return of the short, sharp shock of Valdapeñas de Jaén – a vicious hill known as Spain’s Mur de Huy, on which the gradient touches 27%.

After the first rest day and the sole individual time trial – a flattish 38km on which the climbers’ losses should be manageable – the middle section ends with a second triptych of consecutive mountain-top finishes, this time in the Pyrenees. Stage 14’s finish on Collado del la Gallina proved to be Chris Froome’s undoing last year. This is followed by a rare sortie into France to the summit of Peyragudes, where Alejandro Valverde triumphed in the 2012 Tour. Finally, the peloton’s last challenge before the rest day is the ascent of Formigal, site of the Vuelta’s first ever high summit finish in 1972.

By the start of the final five stages, the GC is likely to be well strung out, but there remains significant potential to scupper the leading contenders’ hopes before the processional finale into Madrid. A flat stage to Burgos heralds the third and final treble of summit finishes, starting and finishing with two monsters: Peña Cabarga (which averages in excess of 9%) and the sixth appearance of the Angliru, 10%-plus and with several ramps in excess of 20%.

Overall impressions

Sheree: Unipublic is sticking with the formula which served it so well last year. It has retained some old favourites and introduced new climbs. This will hopefully build to a crescendo on the penultimate day. The 11 summit finishes favour the mountain goats and will dash the hopes of anyone weighing more than 62kg. Reigning champion Alberto Contador summarised it best: “It’ll be a gruelling effort right from the early stages.”

Tim: I’m in 100% agreement. This is emphatically a parcours arranged with the climbers in mind. And it is such a gruelling route that it will be easy to overcook things in the first two weeks and then blow completely in the final week, so I’m hoping for some real drama in the last couple of mountain stages. Plus, of course, despite the ten summit finishes last year, the race was ultimately decided on a seemingly innocent flat stage …

Where will the race be won and lost?

Sheree: The summit finishes will prove decisive in terms of the general classification. But after Alberto’s audacious attack on an apparently benign stage last year, I’ve started scanning the profiles for potentially innocuous traps – and there are plenty. Even stage one, a strenuous 27km team time trial launched from a floating wooden platform, will see precious time being lost. With all the attention on the obvious dangers, will someone spring another big surprise somewhere?

Tim: I don’t think we’ll see the first wave of big attacks until the Pyrenees at the end of week two. I love the two new Andalucian climbs early on, particularly Peñas Blancas, which saw-tooths up and down on snaking roads before a long final drag. But I expect the big guns to keep their powder dry until later battles, as no one will want the burden of defending the lead too early. The tactics in the Pyrenees will be interesting. Some will attack there, while others will wait for the final sequence of climbs. My gut feeling is that Angliru won’t be decisive, as I think the major moves will have played out before then. I’d say we will know the champion’s identity by the top of Peña Canarga on stage 18.

The contenders

Sheree: It’s hard to look beyond last year’s podium of Contador, Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodriguez. With both Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome on duty at the other two Grand Tours, Sky will likely support their Colombians, Sergio Henao and Olympic silver medallist Riogberto Uran. The Carrots will once more be supporting the ambitions of Igor Anton, who may well have Giro-bound Samuel Sanchez riding in a supporting role.

Tim: I really hope someone like Blanco’s Bauke Mollema breaks through, but I agree with your assessment. The only thing I would add is that the race may depend as much on tactics as physical form – on that basis, if he does compete it’s hard to look beyond the combination of Contador and Riis at Saxo-Tinkoff. Also, this is not the sort of parcours one team can control from start to finish. Pushing too hard too early could easily result in a spectacular demise within sight of Madrid. Consequently I think we will see more fluctuations at the top of the GC than we have become accustomed to.