PREVIEW & FAVOURITES | Vuelta a España 2025 stage 6 - Vingegaard and UAE face off on first mountain stage

Stage 6 of the Vuelta a Espana will be the first day in the mountains. Right after entering Spain, the race leaves the country once again and heads towards the mountains of Andorra. it's a proper mountainous day and we preview what is the first key GC challenge where Jonas Vingegaard will have to defend himself from Jonas Vingegaard and João Almeida.

The very high mountain arrives in stage 6 of the Vuelta with departure from Olot and arrival at the hard climb of Pal. One day after the rider arrives to Spain finally, it will once again leave and end the sixth day of competition in Andorra - the fourth country hosting a finale in the space of less than a week.

The start of the stage is uphill right from the gun with an 11-kilometer climb that features quite some difficult gradients, where a strong group can without a doubt go up the road. Still in the first half of the stage there is the Collada de Tosses which has 24 kilometers in length. It will set up some fatigue but it will only be preparation for the finale.

Much of the peloton will be familiarized with the terrain that's going to be tackled, as many live in Andorra. There will be a two-climb combination, the first being the 8% Alto de la Comella which is over 4 kilometers long, is technical and ends with only 20.7 kilometers. However we're unlikely to see attacks here because the final climb is quite hard.

Officially, the ascent is 9.6 kilometers at 6.5%, but the truth is the riders already climb quite a bit before it becomes "categorized". But with a few flat valley sections inbetween, it's not hard to chase down an early attack, so the action will wait for the final ascent which is not overly difficult but finishes at 1900 meters of altitude and there's no restbite on the ascent so it can make some differences.

The riders will likely face a lot of rain at least in the stage finale. This will make the final descent very dangerous and on the climbs themselves it could be a different challenge. The first mountain stage will have a few nasty variables which may put a few riders in a complicated position.

Jonas Vingegaard - He doesn't need to attack. Or does he? Needing isn't the right word, but the less than 10 seconds over Almeida, Ayuso and Ciccone are nothing. Vingegaard will want to attack the race even if he is leading it, and I would say the finale and the weather will make it hard enough for him to be able to do so. This isn't a high mountain finish, don't rate him as the absolute man to beat as I expect him to become in the second week, but he is definitely the main favourite nonetheless.

UAE - A big day with the race finishing by the home of most of the team, non-ironically. But that does not mean they will go above their rivals. João Almeida and Juan Ayuso start the day 8 seconds behind Jonas Vingegaard and so does Marc Soler actually. Thus far UAE can play the numbers game. In this stage it'll be hard to put them to use, so in their shoes I would simply not work and also avoid attacking, but instead try to keep all three riders as close as possible to the red jersey so they can potentially take advantage of it in the coming days. Or if the stage start is raced quite fast, I wouldn't be surprised to see Soler try and make it into a big breakaway.

The 2 outsiders - David Gaudu and Giulio Ciccone are two great riders but they do not often find their best form. But it seems like at the moment, they both have it, and are both very interesting. I don't expect them to win the Vuelta but in explosive finales they can absolutely win, and if the differences aren't really made on the climb here, they could both win in a sprint between whomever survives off the main favourites.

Tom Pidcock is another Andorra resident and I'm quite interested to see what he'll be capable of here, or even if he will want to attack in the final downhill taking into consideration he should know the roads like the back of his hand and the wet conditions make it even more of a high-risk, high-reward situation. Most other riders will want to sit in the group and then finish as high as possible, gauging where they stand in the first mountain clash.

Jai Hindley, Giulio Pellizzari, Egan Bernal, Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda, Felix Gall, Santiago Buitrago, Antonio Tiberi, Mikel Landa, Ben O'Connor, Matthew Riccitello and the Astana trio of Harold Martín López, Lorenzo Fortunato and Harold Tejada will all be there.

Whilst not overly likely, we could consider the possibility of a breakaway triumph too on this day as we've got an uphill start and have had a few stages creating some differences in the previous days. I would also argue a few teams will want men in front because that final descent and false-flat run-in to the climb could be terrain, in these conditions to create or expand on differences.

Chris Harper, Sergio Higuita, Wout Poels, Victor Langellotti, Emanuel Buchmann, Magnus Sheffield, Esteban Chaves, Pablo Castrillo, Eddie Dunbar, Carlos Verona, Jay Vine and Luca Vergallito are all men worth keeping an eye on for this finale. Take into consideration too that hundreds of pro riders live in Andorra, so for many here it'll be a day with special motivation. 

*** Jonas Vingegaard, Giulio Ciccone
** David Gaudu, João Almeida, Juan Ayuso
* Jai Hindley, Giulio Pellizzari, Egan Bernal, Felix Gall, Tom Pidcock, Pablo Castrillo, Eddie Dunbar, Carlos Verona, Jay Vine, Esteban Chaves, Matteo Jorgenson, Marc Soler

Pick: Jonas Vingegaard

How: Statistically speaking, Vingegaard remains the favourite. Whilst he is in the lead, it's by no means safe, and he will want to take advantage of the tough summit finish if he has the legs.