Preview - Vuelta a Espana 2022 stage 13

Stage 13 of the Vuelta a Espana will be an interesting one, with a stage that is very much typical of the Vuelta with a very open finale. On paper, a day for the sprinters, some at least, however the route is full of ‘rompe-piernas’ roads which constantly feature small ascents throughout the entire day.

For that reason there are 1800 meters of climbing despite not featuring a single categorized climb, however it should be a fast day. The start in Ronda is at altitude and is by no means flat, and then throughout the rest of the day there will be rolling terrain. With 14.6 kilometers to go there will be a bonified intermediate sprint in Espejo that may see some action in case there is no breakaway up to this point.

However, it will all be about the final climb. Uncategorized, of course, however it is one the fast men will feel and not all will survive. The final 6.6 kilometers have an uphill tilt to it, with false-flat gradients for much of the finale, it will put some riders in the hurt.

The roads will flatten out until the final 700 meters, but it will kick up once again from there on with a 5% average until the finish. The finishing straight will also be short, and it is expected to be a very explosive finale where the puncheurs but also some GC riders should get in the mix at the end.

CyclingUpToDate prediction:
**** Mads Pedersen
*** Kaden Groves, Danny van Poppel
** Tim Merlier, Dan McLay, Fred Wright
* Pascal Ackermann, Juan Sebastian Molano, Bryan Coquard, John Degenkolb