Preview - Vuelta a Espana 2022 stage 5

The fifth stage of the Vuelta a Espana will traverse the Basque Country close to the sea. A hilly day, and a traditional finale in Bilbao which will make for an interesting and very open day early in the race. There will be 3000 meters of climbing, it will be no easy day for anyone, with a lot of small ascents in the first half, and the main climbs of the day late on.

With 92, 84 and 62 kilometers to go there will be some hilltops, nothing too big however, but it will warm up things and build up some fatigue which will not favour the riders looking to survive and bet on a sprint late in the day. The race will reach the outskirts of Bilbao however and go on a double ascent of one of it’s most famous climbs.

It will be the Alto del Vivero. Will be summited twice, with 43.8 and 13.8 kilometers to go. 4.5Km at 7.9%, with ramps going up as high as 13% through it. It’s a short and sharp climb, hard enough for the GC riders to make moves, but also “gentle” enough for some faster riders to go through the summit close to the front, depending on how the race goes.

There will be bonus seconds at the summit of the final passage however which is likely to stir things up. If any rider manages to get away it will be very hard to bring back, as the following descent will be quite fast and leave the riders with just two kilometers to go. The sprint will then be flat, on urban roads, without too much difficulty as there are no expectations of a large group fighting for the win.

**** Ethan Hayter

*** Mads Pedersen, Primoz Roglic

** Julian Alaphilippe, Remco Evenepoel, Quentin Pacher

* Alejandro Valverde, Fred Wright, Kaden Groves, João Almeida