"If someone tries it, it will surely break the race" - Alberto Contador warns Vingegaard and Almeida ahead of 'aggressive terrain' in Galicia

Stage 16 of the Vuelta a Espana is a very treacherous day, lacking the big long climbs, but having lots of short and steep ones, rolling and narrow roads, where a lot can happen - and a lot did happen back in the 2021 edition. Alberto Contador has shared his opinion and warned the GC riders ahead of the first day of the final week.

"Stage 16 of the Vuelta a España is here, a big stage, a stage that we already experienced a few years ago, with many climbs, almost 3,500 meters of ascent, favorable for the breakaway but also watch out for the men in the general classification," he said in an analysis for Eurosport. The stage will feature climbs of different lengths and a summit finish just outside of Mos in a very inconsistent climb in terms of gradients.

"Castro de Herville is a second category climb but you have to be very careful with it. There are percentages at ten percent, it is a stage with a lot of accumulated elevation gain and it has very hard previous climbs, so I think there can be differences, especially when we see those first 3 kilometers that are above 10 percent (correction: 1.7Km at 10%, ed.), it is a very aggressive terrain with a kilometer at 12 and another at 13 percent".

'El Pistolero' has no doubt. If someone wants to attack the race on that climb, there is nothing stopping them: "If someone tries it, it will surely break the race. We'll see if it's followed up because then the percentages drop to four and five percent. In any case, it's a day in which there will surely be differences between the men in the general classification".

The route takes place entirely in Galicia, a land where there are practically no flat stretches. The road never gives any restibite, it always goes up or down. However, the first climb will not appear until well into the second part of the day, which will allow for a fast and nervous start before the real battle breaks out.

In 2021 this was used as the final GC stage, close to the race's finale in Santiago de Compostela, and it saw quite a lot of drama as third place Miguel Ángel López abandoned the race and ended his time with Movistar, whilst Jack Haig jumped to an unexpected podium place as a result and there were several position changes in the Top10.