Preview - Vuelta a Espana 2022 stage 15

Perhaps the queen stage of the Vuelta a Espana ? There will be plenty stages where real gaps can be made, however surely will have this day in mind for a long time, and many will fear the climbs they will face. It is a day where the race can both be won or lost, as it features the terrain for it, with 4000 meters of climbing, mostly packed in the final third.

A short day however with only 150 kilometers on the menu, a rolling start as is typical, and a small climb 34 kilometers away from the start which should set the race into a stable position. The riders will go down to Granada, and the mountains around it will host the finale of the stage.

The first ascent will be the Alto del Purche, a familiar climb to the Vuelta a Andalucia, it is 9 kilometers long at 7.5%, however that features a small but steep descent close to the summit. In reality is a climb that 6 kilometers at around 10% gradient, with more inconsistent starts and finishes, a brutal ascent, which summits with 39.2 kilometers to go.

The riders will have little time to recover however. What will follow is a technical descent, immediately onto an uncategorized climb to Guéjar Sierra, where the run-up to the base of the final climb is a very technical and steep little descent, straight into the brutal ramps of the final climb.

Sierra Nevada will host the finish, but the riders will climb via the Alto de Hazallanas which features it’s first 5 kilometers at over 10% average gradient with countless switchbacks. A very explosive ascent at the bottom, favourable for attacks, however it is a climb that will be almost an hour long and the effort must be managed. The climb is in total 19.4 kilometers long at 7.9%, and after it’s steep start it never features any restbite, and the last third becomes a straightforward ascent with no locations to surprise. A gruelling test of climbing prowess, a day for the pure climbers to show what they’re made of.

CyclingUpToDate prediction:
**** Miguel Ángel López
*** Primoz Roglic, João Almeida
** Enric Mas, Thibaut Pinot, Richard Carapaz
* Carlos Rodríguez, Remco Evenepoel, Juan Ayuso, David De la Cruz