PREVIEW | Vuelta a Espana 2023 stage 17 - Can Sepp Kuss seal the deal at the mythical Angliru?

Preview. Perhaps the hardest and most feared climb in the whole Vuelta a Espana. Stage 17 will be a short but brutal day on the bike which ends on the summit of the mythical Alto de l'Angliru.

Stage 17 will be a brute, and an absolutely mythical day of climbing. The Asturian monster of 2023, the riders will be climbing the Alto de la Colladiella and the Alto der Cordal - both first category climbs - before directly riding up the Alto de l'Angliru for a summit finish. Almost 13 kilometers at 10% with several ramps over 20% will make for very large differences.

It is a very short day in terms of distance, 125 kilometers with a flat start - the Tour de France playbook was used once again. Ultimately it'll mean very little action to start off the day, it'll all be saved for the final half. The Alto de Colladiella will open things up with it's 6.5 kilometers at 8% finishing with 49 kilometers to go.

However the GC riders will begin to gauge their efforts more carefully afterwards. In 2017 Alberto Contador attacked in the Alto del Cordal, it's 5.7 kilometers at 8.5%, steep and with plenty switchbacks, the descent is exactly the same and leads to raiding territory. The only reason why it ends up being unlikely is because what comes next is a climb of breathtaking toughness.

From the base of the descent to the final climb. The mythical Angliru is 12.3 kilometers at 10%. The first half not too difficult, with some tough gradients but never above 10%, and it even includes a kilometer long flat section. What is brutal is what follows. 6.5 kilometers at 13.3%, with several sections where the gradients go above 20% - the steepest being the famous Cueña les Cabres at 23.5%.

It's just gruesome, there's very little that teammates can do here, it'll be down to the individual strength of the riders who try to get to the summit the fastest. Those behind will likely struggle just as much however. The summit of the climb is inside the final kilometer, the organizers place the finish line in a small descent after the peak.

Under control it would seem. A little bit of rain is possible but unlikely - it could make the final descent important. Overall however there isn't anything out of ordinary in the day, it's unlikely to affect the racing.

How Jumbo will race - Possibly how they did on stage 14, or maybe not... The plan seemed to be set to help Sepp Kuss win the Vuelta, as long as he does not crack on one of the remaining stages. This can still happen, I don't think any of the Jumbo riders (adding Primoz Roglic, Jonas Vingegaard) will sacrifice himself for one of the others, they do not need, and they all have a chance of winning the race. It is a bit of a free role for each. Likely they will have the team set a nice pace, but at some point UAE are bound to step it up or attack and then they'll follow.

On a climb like this however following the wheels matters virtually nothing. All of them are likely to pace themselves as they can in the final climb, and at the finish they'll gather the results and draw out conclusions. Vingegaard attacked today and gained serious time, it would be no surprise to see him do it again tomorrow.

What others can do - Juan Ayuso is the clear marker, the only competitor who's attacking. He's likely to try again, the Spaniard is in good form and is the closest to the podium outside of the Jumbo riders. On a climb like this being outnumbered won't really matter, if he finds himself on a great day then he can make differences and possible be Jumbo's pebble in the shoe. Behind don't expect attacks, everyone knows that any important move will have a Jumbo rider following, they are better off following and then pacing themselves as they can. Enric Mas can do a good ride, others will likely have their own battle for the lower Top10 spots.

Will the breakaway make it? - I would say it's unlikely but possible, there are a few quality climbers that will have freedom, but no-one will have an easy task, it is certain that the GC fight will erupt behind in a brutal finale. You've got to be a top climber to win even if the peloton doesn't mind the victory ahead. Remco Evenepoel, Santiago Buitrago, Hugh Carthy, Wout Poels, Romain Bardet, Finn Fisher-Black and Michael Storer are the names in mind. A few, because they are fighting for the KOM classification, may give it a shot from the peloton as well, some of them have performed very well on this climb in the past and the likes of Evenepoel can virtually fight for any mountain stage.

*** Jonas Vingegaard
** Primoz Roglic, Sepp Kuss, Juan Ayuso, Remco Evenepoel
* Enric Mas, Aleksandr Vlasov, Santiago Buitrago, Wout Poels, Romain Bardet, Michael Storer, Finn Fisher-Black