Preview - Vuelta a Espana 2022 stage 20

The final mountain stage of the Vuelta a Espana. At the end of three weeks of racing it will be a complicated day, but the Sierras de Madrid often offer dramatic race, and with 4000 meters of climbing on the day that will be a make-or-break ride for many.

The first 25 kilometers of the day aren’t overly hard, but the Puerto de Navacerrada will open things up with 10 kilometers at 6.8%. It will set up for the day, packed with climbs that aren’t overly hard or overly steep, but are combined quite difficult. A long flat section will anticipate the Puerto de Navafria (10Km, 5.5%) which will have it’s summit with 87 kilometers to go.

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Stage 20: Moralzarzal - Puerto de Navacerrada, 181Km 

The race willl then enter it’s crucial section, with 54 kilometers to go the riders will go over the Puerto de Canencia (7.3Km, 4.8%) and shortly after the Puerto de Morcuera which has 9.2 kilometers at 6.8%, and a bonus sprint at the summit with 37.7 kilometers to go. It’s perhaps the most difficult climb of the day, and a technical descent follows. It’s an explosive ascent, however there will be another opportunity to create the difference.

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Puerto de la Morcuera: 9.2Km; 6.8% average gradient; 38Km to go

That will be at the Puerto de Cotos, the last serious climb of the race. 10.5 kilometers at 5.6%, not a brutal ascent but this combination saw Tom Dumoulin loose the 2015 Vuelta. This final climb will finish with 6.7 kilometers to go, and a small plateau section will have the riders end the stage in the Puerto de Navacerrada.

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Puerto de Cotos: 10.5Km; 5.6% average gradient; 6.7Km to go

CyclingUpToDate prediction:
**** Remco Evenepoel
*** Enric Mas, João Almeida
** Miguel Ángel López, Juan Ayuso, Ben O'Connor
* Jai Hindley, Thymen Arensman, Richard Carapaz, Thibaut Pinot