INTERVIEW | Where can brutal Vuelta a Espana be decided? "There's so many" stages where it can happen according to Adam Yates

The Vuelta a España is often brutal and this year is no exception. Not only that, but it is a terrifying edition for everyone who isn't a climber, featuring 61.000 meters of total climbing and nine summit finishes throughout the 21 stages. Adam Yates, a pure climber who may benefit from this, has shared his opinion on the race.

Asked if there was a specific day where the race could be the decided, the response was the following "I mean there's so many. It's the race with the most climbing, the most hilltop finishes every year," he told CyclingUpToDate. "It's tricky to pick out one particular day but I mean even stages that don't have a hilltop [finish] like the stage to Granada (stage 9, ed.) which everyone knows from the altitude camps in Sierra [Nevada]".

Yates finished third at the Tour de France last year, and with the absence of Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel, he is placed in a very favourable position to win a three-week race - perhaps it is his best-ever shot at it. This year he was already a winner at the Tour de Suisse, and at the Tour he finished sixth after spending several days working for Tadej Pogacar. He is part of what is perhaps the strongest team at the Vuelta, and co-leads the team together with Almeida - with whom he dominated in Switzerland.

Yates however, an experienced rider with already 13 Grand Tours under his belt, knows that the race may not be won or lost in the mountains, but pretty much in any day of the race. "It's just a hard race, it's kind of relentless in a way. It's tricky to pick one, we have to pay attention and try not to make any mistakes", he concluded.