The Vuelta a España that starts next August 19 from Netherlands It remains faithful to the philosophy professed in the last editions and will hardly offer options for the sprinters or rest for the candidates for the general classification.
Three stages will be played on Dutch roads before the platoon lands in Spanish territory. Later, there will be mid-mountain stages, profiles prone to ambushes and up to nine high arrivals with little time for transitions -six flat stages counting the last one, that of September 11 in Madrid-. The terrain time trial It will be limited to 23.3 kilometers of the first stage, in the team mode, and 30.9 of the 10th day, the only individual.
Of the nine hilly finishes, five will be for the first time in the race, which this year celebrates its 77th edition. They will take place at the ports of Pico Jano (Cantabria, 6th stage), Collau Foncuaya (Asturias, 8th), Pico de los Reales (Málaga, 12th), Tentudía Monastery (Extremadura, 17th) and Alto del Piornal (Extremadura, 18th).
But scares for the candidates may come soon. After leaving behind the flat profiles of the Netherlands, the race arrives in the Basque Country, where the ban for climbers will open, with hardly any rest until the time trial of the 10th stageon a tour through the lands of Cantabria, Asturias and Leon.
The route between Bilbao and Pico Jano, in Cantabria (12.6 kilometers at 6 percent) discovers the first new high finish, a difficulty that may already begin to take its toll on the men in the general classification. This first week closes in Leonese lands, in The Cistianschapter that includes the ascent to San Glorio.
The second week has Asturian protagonism. This year there will be no Lagos de Covadonga or Angliru, but there will be the unprecedented Collau Foncuayain the council of Yernes and Tameza, a pass of 5.7 km at 7.8 percent and ramps of 16. Day with four other ascents that accumulates 3,300 meters of difference in altitude, with passes through La Colladona, La Mozqueta, Santo Emiliano and Dark.
A first Asturian mountain dish that will be completed with the stage between Villaviciosa and Les Praeres, an elevated finish with a 4-kilometre climb at more than 12 percent on average. Tough test that day with 5 difficulties, including the Mirador del Fito.
the return will give a spectacular jump from Asturias to Alicante, where the appointment with the clock awaits. A timed stage of 31.1 kilometers flat, of pure force between Elche and Alicante.
there will be a wink Tribute to Valverde with the departure from Murcia after the time trial. The ‘Bala’ will pass through his homeland for the last time on his 16th lap. The goal of the journey will be Cabo de Gata, in Almería, where they expect a dreamlike landscape at the sprinters’ event.
The Almeria event will be the starting point for a historical fact, since For the first time in history, the Vuelta will pass through the eight Andalusian provinces. The twelfth stage between Salobreña and Peñas Blancas calls for climbers. The port will climb 4 more kilometers, to the Pico de los Reales, to complete an effort of 21 kilometers.
A truce after a theoretical sprint in Montilla leads to La Pandera (8 kilometers at 8%), in Jaéna climb that is already among the usual ones in the Spanish round, with the top at 1,840 meters.
Surprises in Extremadura
The excitement will rise in the general classification, with the favorites awaiting key appointments in the third and final week of the race. To start the stage in style between Martos, the ‘Cuna del Olivar’ and Sierra Nevada, the only special category port in the 2022 round.
It will be a true litmus test before the second rest day, with 20 kilometers of ascent, and the finish line above 2,000 meters, which will mean added difficulty. With more than 4,000 meters of unevenness the stage includes Alto del Purche and Hazallanas.
Continuing through Andalusia, the caravan will enter Sanúcar de Barrameda (Cádiz) to conclude with a sprint in Tomares (Seville), and in the seventeenth stage it will leave Aracena (Huelva) to enter Extremadura, in Tentudialeg-breaking stage with an unprecedented high end, not too demanding, but where no one should be trusted.
The second day in Extremadura between Trujillo and Alto del Piornal promises a show. Another peak that opens located in the Jerte Valley that will be climbed by three different slopes, from La Desesperá, Monasterio de Yuste and Hervás. Are 17 kilometers of slope with ramps of up to 14 percent.
Before the final fireworks, attention to the antepenultimate stage with start and finish in Talavera de la Reina with the double ascent to Alto del Piélago (2nd), a climb that at the end of the Vuelta may reveal some weaknesses last minute
Already in Madrid, the icing with the legendary stage of the Sierra de Guadarram passesa. Departure in Moralzarzal and arrival at Puerto de Navacerrada. The legend is clear. Here laps have been lost at the last minute. In 2015 the Italian Fabio Aru stole the red from the Dutch Tom Dumoulin in these ports. There will be a double climb to Navacerrada and La Morcuera and Canencia will climb.
The final party will take place in Madrid with a tribute to the winner. A ride of just over 100 kilometers will be the culmination of the 2022 edition of the Vuelta a España.
This is the official route of the Vuelta a España 2022
Friday August 19. Utrecht (Netherlands) – 23.3 km
Saturday August 20th. ‘s-Hertogenbosch-Utrecht (Netherlands) – 175.1 km
Sunday August 21. Breda (Netherlands) – 193.5 km
Mars August 23. Vitoria-Gasteiz-Laguardia – 152.5 km
Wednesday, August 24th. Irun-Bilbao – 187.2 km
Thursday, August 25th. Bilbao-Ascent of Peak Janus, San Miguel de Aguayo – 81.2 km
Friday August 26. Camargo-Cistierna – 190 km
Saturday August 27 Pola de Laviana-Colláu Fancuaya. Yernes and Tameza – 153.4 km
Sunday August 28 Villaviciosa-Les Praeres, Nava – 171.4 km
10 Tuesday August 30. Elche-Alicante – 30.9 km
Wednesday, August 31st. ElPozo Feeding-Cat Cape – 191.2 km
Thursday th of September. Salobreña-Peñas Blancas, Estepona – 192.7 km
Friday September 2. Ronda-Montilla – 168.4 km
Saturday September 3. Montoro-Sierra de La Pandera – 160.3 km
Sunday September 4. Martos-Sierra Nevada, Alto Hoya de la Mora – 149.3 km
Tuesday September 6. Sanlucar de Barrameda-Tomares – 189.4 km
Wednesday, September 7. Aracena-Tentudía Monastery – 162.3 km
Thursday September 8. Trujillo-Alto de Piornal – 192 km
Friday September 9. Talavera de la Reina – 138.3 km
Saturday September 10. Moralzarzal-Port of Navacerrada – 181 km
Sunday September 11. Las Rozas-Madrid – 96.7 km