This coming Saturday we will live the last great chapter of the Vuelta a España 2023 in a torture through the Sierra de Madrid. In total, the riders will have to face a day of more than 200 kilometers that will be a continuous up and down that looks more like an Ardennes than a stage of a grand tour by stages.
The riders will have to overcome a total of 10 mountainous difficulties, all of them of third category. Obviously, if UAE Team Emirates or Bahrain Victorious want to have any chance (however remote) of trying to put Mikel Landa or Juan Ayuso on the podium or, above all, to take a stage win, they will have to make the day very hard from the start. If what happened on stage 17, when they allowed a breakaway to start, happens again, everything will become more complicated.
Seeing the level shown in the last mountain stages by Jumbo-Visma's domestiques (Kelderman, Gesink, Valter and company), it won't be easy for the Dutch team to control the race. We'll see if Bahrain will once again give the race a run for its money by setting the pace at the front or if, on the contrary, attacks will follow one after the other and the stage will turn into a madness with leaders and no support riders.
What is clear is that if there is a fight Sepp Kuss is by no means assured of the red jersey. It could be that Jonas Vingegaard or Primoz Roglic will have to jump into some attacks and that, due to race circumstances, they will end up in some front group.
As I said, the key will be that the interests of the fight for a stage win could unite with the interests of trying to blow up the general classification. There Remco Evenepoel, who is sure to try for his fourth win in this Vuelta, can be a key player for anyone who wants to blow up the race.
The last two climbs, the Puerto de la Cruz Verde and the Alto de San Lorenzo del Escorial, are not too hard, but after 19 stages behind and 8 climbs and descents and 180 km behind, they can do a lot of damage if, as I explain, there is pace from the start and a desire to do real damage. Alberto Contador proved in Fuente Dé in 2012 that, when you want to, you can. Will anyone dare?
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Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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