PREVIEW | Vuelta a Andalucia 2025 stage 1 - Can climbers like Mas and Quintana disrupt ambitions of classics riders on the opening day?
Cycling
From the 19th to the 23rd of February we have one of the most important Spanish stage-races of the season. This will be the Vuelta a Andalucia, taking place in a warm part of the country, always with a mix of explosive stages that traditionally attract the climbers and classics riders a lot. We preview stage 1.
The first stage of the race is a very threatening one. With no race leader, the uphill start will be hard to control and for a day without clear contenders, chaos can quickly settle. There are climbs of different distances and gradientns, but the final half presents three that are difficult. 6.7Km at 7.2% with 62Km to go; 1.9Km at 8.1% with 41Km to go; and 3.3Km at 7.1% with 20Km to go.
Between them all, barely a meter of flat road, it's always uphill or downhill and it's simply very hard to have an organized chase. Even if anything comes together, we will still have an uphill sprint in Cueva de Nerja at 6%.
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Prediction Vuelta a Andalucia 2025 stage 1:
*** Tim Wellens, Tom Pidcock, Maxim van Gils
** Pavel Sivakov, Jordan Labrosse, Enric Mas, Ruben Guerreiro
* Igor Arrieta, Marc Soler, Clément Berthet, Nairo Quintana, Alan Hatherly, Paul Double, Omar Fraile, Axel Laurance, Damien Howson, Steff Cras, Tobias Johannessen
Pick: Macim van Gils
How: Small group sprint.
Original: Rúben Silva
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🚴♂️🌟 La Vuelta Ciclista a Andalucía presenta en diputación de Málaga las etapas que recorrerán la provincia de Málaga pic.twitter.com/6vV5uklLa2
— Vuelta a Andalucía (@VCANDALUCIA) January 29, 2025
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- Come on, shorter stages, easier stages, less stages, easier one day races, shorter one day races, far lesser competition, slower speed, lack of bike handling skills and strategy … you can demand equality where it is due.. but that is rather not the case here. The men’s race was 20x more entertaining, so receiving 10x less is rather fair.
UltimateOpportunist25-03-2025 - this is officially the stupidest article i’ve ever read about cycling, or maybe anything else. i want those 2 minutes of my life back…OCexile25-03-2025
- I agree, this article is silly. Pogacar won that TdF because he was stronger than Roglic on the time trial not because he was unknown. Each rider has their own strengths and ride to those. Each of the classics and monuments have their own unique features that the riders must strategize.GB25-03-2025
- Yes, I think he still has a lot to say in road cycling. In the CX races he showed a very good gear but... the problem was essentially his NERVOUSNESS then he took bad decisions in finding the best strategies and paths. He needs confidence (calm down) and maybe a very good preparation gave him that.
maria2024202425-03-2025 - I don't believe so sadly, much as pulling another rider into that group I think Tadej and MVDP have raised the game so far they are essentially untouchable. The spoils of this season will be split between them, I believe Tadej will take RVV, LBL and Lombardia, MVDP MSR and Roubaix. I'm not even sure Remco will be at their level when he comes back. Tadej and MVDP are just a step above everyone elseslappers6625-03-2025
- Tadej and MVDP bring that panache back to cycling that we missed right through the Armstrong years, the Sky years and to an extent the couple of Visma tour wins. Whole team blocking a race, no attacking, no excitement till the leaders jumped away inslappers6625-03-2025
- Glad to know he's confident now, even though he didn't win; it's true, he never complains but in past interviews he often expressed his insecurity and bewilderment when he hadn't won the gold on the track or a time trial.maria2024202425-03-2025
- Would be so cool. Might not be possible regularly but a few, even Jungels showed glimpses of his past form after going through mental deserts.Jumpyjohn25-03-2025
- Yeah, might not feel like leaving his family or ending up like Senna or Schumacher. I’d have no problems with that, critics might have a tough time, finding a new target to focus on, maybe Remco? He’d be more tricky.Mistermaumau25-03-2025
- This is cycling, no pills ;-)Mistermaumau25-03-2025