The second day of racing has a tough start right outside Vélez-Málaga, with a few climbs. A 17-kilometer climb will open things up. Midway through the stage we'll have a key climb in the race which is 3 kilometers at 9.8%, which several explosive hilltops right after. The race may break apart here. There is still a long way to go to the finish however, and the hilltop finish into Alcaudete is 8.5 kilometers at 3.5% - not a serious climb, but differences can be made here certainly, and tactics can be crucial.
Stage 1: La Herradura (Almuñécar) - Cádiar, 163.4 kilometers
Stage 2: Vélez-Málaga - Alcaudete, 159.7 kilometers
If there is a day that can end in a sprint, it is the third stage. 164 kilometers into Pozoblanco will have 2200 meters of climbing and has rolling roads all throughout the day. The final third of the stage is not overly hard however. A bunch sprint is certainly possible, however even on this day there is a drag to the line which may open things up.
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prizes! The fourth day of racing is another explosive one, this one into Lucena. The main feature of the day is the final circuit. The peloton takes in four laps of a circuit that has a 2.2-kilometer ascent at 6.8%. This ends with only 4 kilometers to go; from there on we've got a very fast non-technical downhill finish.
The race ends at La Línea de la Concepción. The finale is flat, the easiest of the entire race, but the day's first half is very hard. Right from the start we've got a 20-kilometer climb at 5% where the race may break apart completely. Following that, there is a plateau section, and three ascents (5.1Km at 5.1%; 3.6Km at 5% and 7.6Km at 5.9%) where the race may break apart finally. If not, it will be hard to make the differences later on, but it should make for an interesting stage.
Stage 3: Arjona - Pozoblanco, 164.6 kilometers
Stage 4: Córdoba - Lucena, 168.2 kilometers
Stage 5: Benahavis - La Línea de la Concepción, 173 kilometers
Prediction Vuelta a Andalucia 2024 overall classification:
***
Tim Wellens,
Santiago Buitrago**
Juan Ayuso,
Marc Soler* Rafal Majka, Damiano Caruso, Jack Haig, Wout Poels, Ruben Guerreiro, Alex Baudin, Felix Gall, Maxim van Gils
Pick: Tim Wellens
Preview written by Rúben Silva.