Vuelta 2018, Stage 6: Huércal-Overa > San Javier. Mar Menor - Stage 6 - 155,7 km *Spoilers*

blazing_saddles

Stage 6: Huércal-Overa > San Javier. Mar Menor - 155,7 km

With stage 6 the Vuelta a España will be leaving Andalusia for a short while. The leg starts in Huércal-Overa and then travels north to San Javier for a flat finish near the famous Mar Menor salty lagoon in Murcia. The route amounts to 155.7 kilometres.



Stage 6 is a likely sprint stage. Which doesn’t mean the route is entirely flat. En route the riders are to crest the Alto de Garrobillo and the Alto Cuesta de Cedacero, both 3rd category ascents.



The Garrobillo – 3.8 kilometres at 5.8 % with the last 2.8 kilometres at 7.9% – is crested with 98.4 kilometres remaining, while the Vuelta travels over the Cuesta de Cedacero some 50 kilometres before the finish. This climb is slightly longer than the previous one, it counts 5.2 kilometres and the average slope is 5.2%.



The 6th stage runs mostly along the coast. Shortly after the flag has been dropped the course heads to the Mediterranean Sea and the riders move through Aguilas, Mazarròn and port city Cartagena to Europe’s largest salt water lagoon, Mar Menor. The last 15 kilometres of the route are entirely flat, so that’s plenty of time for the sprint teams to organize their troops.



The arrival place lies 30 kilometres to the south of the Salinas of Torrevieja, where the Gran Salida of the 2019 Vuelta is set to take place.

Video of the final 5kms.
https://youtu.be/Ufovo1-PXTA

Final kms:


The all important team hotels.


Favourites 6th stage 2018 Vuelta a España

*** Peter Sagan, Elia Viviani, Matteo Trentin
** Danny van Poppel, Nacer Bouhanni, Giacomo Nizzolo
* Tosh Van der Sande, Michael Schwarzmann, Max Walscheid, Ryan Gibbons

Huércal-Overa
Unprecedented departure

18,649 inhabitants

Almería Province

Huércal-Overa is a town with all the makings of a city. Located East of the Province of Almería, bordering Murcia, it is a border town, a bridge between civilisations. Among its main monuments is the Parish Church of Our Lady of the Assumption (1709-1739), a beautiful Baroque building with an altarpiece by José Ganga. Also worth mentioning is the 14th century castle, declared an Asset of Cultural Interest, and its Tree of Life.



You cannot pass through Huércal-Overa without tasting its delicious gastronomy, especially its almond pasties. Highlights in Huércal-Overa also include its festivities and traditions, especially its Holy Week, a time of fervour that emphasises the idiosyncrasies of its own inhabitants, declared of National Touristic Interest. Also worth mentioning are its sculptures by prestigious artists such as Salzillo, Bellver, Sánchez Lozano and Lastrucci. Its dramatization is beyond anything you can imagine. And the October festivities, its Fair, of particular provincial relevance, where the festive atmosphere of the popular booths that lasts from midday to well into the night, have made it a reference.

Huércal-Overa offers many hiking routes that can be completed either on foot, on a bicycle or on horseback, so that you can enjoy the impressive landscape that surrounds the municipality: Vía Verde, the Rábita and La Sierrecica.



San Javier. Mar Menor
Unprecedented Vuelta finale

35,000 habitantes

Murcia Province

The 40 km of beaches along the Mar Menor and the Mediterranean, in Santiago de la Ribera and La Manga del Mar Menor, are the perfect setting for a municipality that is about much more than just the sun and the beach. San Javier has two of Spain’s most important summer festivals, the International Festival of Theatre, Music and Dance that turns 49, and the International Jazz Festival, that has 21 editions under its belt.

Known for its cultural offer, San Javier is the perfect destination to practice nautical sports in the various schools found along the coast, or go diving in Grosa Island. Playing golf on the Roda golf course is another attraction for demanding tourists in search of active holidays.

The “experience-based tourism” that San Javier offers is completed with the development of ecotourism with such natural spaces as the Encañizadas del Mar Menor, an unspoiled area, with its sustainable fishing spanning over five centuries of history. Aeronautical culture, as the headquarters of the General Air Force Academy and the Eagle Patrol, will soon also add to the tourist appeal of a municipality that is a pioneer in wedding tourism.

DeadCalm

Hooray! A proper thread opener. Welcome back.

6wheels

Yep, and hope you had a nice break.

ridgerider

It's like the fog has cleared and everything is back in sharp focus!

(And credit to everyone on here who starts a spoiler thread)

Vino'sGhost

hahaha the other threads were good but this is the gold standard.

Well done and welcome back, hope the holiday was good

above_the_cows

Will we get some heli-shots of the architectural monstrosities of La Manga?

kingstongraham

Any chance of sea breezes?

lucan

Must be just me who skips straight past every thread opener?

larkim

I hear a rumour that Porte is in the break. Not something I'd have predicted at the start of the day!

kingstongraham

Mate, Cubero, Porte have 3 minutes after 20km. I'll tune in for the sprint finsh.

inseine

KingstonGraham wrote:

Mate, Cubero, Porte have 3 minutes after 20km. I'll tune in for the sprint finsh.

I had to LOL at that. I listened to the Velocast this morning and they joked that the Vuelta was so bonkers they could see Porte getting in a lone break and getting into red.

blazing_saddles

Porte is bored apparently. Not alone in that respect it seems.
Kirby in perma-daft mode, whole race, judging from what I have caught.
The headwind isn't helping matters. Looks like they will have it for much of the stage.
An early stage 7 could be on the cards....

blazing_saddles

Campenaerts down after hitting some street furniture.
A number of riders pile in, with Fabio Felline apparently the worst off.

blazing_saddles

Big splits caused by the crash and now we have crosswinds.
It's carnage out there.

kingstongraham

"Pinot Noir, another black day for him"

DeadCalm

The auto-pacing of the front group is a joke.

blazing_saddles

Bouhanni all over the place in that sprint as per usual.

Now, we count down the damage control for Keldermann and co.

kingstongraham

Barriers blowing across after the finish line?

blazing_saddles

1 minute 45 seconds puts the GC into even more turmoil.
Then we have barriers blown into the road after the finish causing another crash pile up among the sprinters.

DeadCalm

Fiasco.

twotoebenny

Blazing Saddles wrote:

1 minute 45 seconds puts the GC into even more turmoil.
Then we have barriers blown into the road after the finish causing another crash pile up among the sprinters.

Pretty boring isn't it

DeadCalm

That could have been an epic finish with that wind but the crash ruined it.

blazing_saddles

The Vuelta: Brought to you by the local comps arts department.
Bollards wrapped in someone's puffa jacket and barriers tied together with old shoe laces.

specialgueststar

Bouhanni stoked up by fake news in Spanish rag

shirley_basso

Who won and what's the GC update?

blazing_saddles

Shirley Basso wrote:

Who won and what's the GC update?

Bouhanni. I kind of posted that, but didn't make it clear.

Biggest GC losers: Kelderman and Pinot lost 1'-44".
Majka lost over 3 minutes which is nuts, given it was Bora who kept the hammer down.
Poor old Rafal. About as much love from Sagan as Bouhanni has for his DS.

ivor_pye

Nice one Nacer.

blazing_saddles

The blown barrier incident explained. Chalk another one up to the organizers.

https://twitter.com/rushverde/status/10 ... 7805492224

lettingthedaysgoby

Well, that was more entertaining than I expected.

richard_t._biscuit

Blazing Saddles wrote:

...
Majka lost over 3 minutes which is nuts, given it was Bora who kept the hammer down.
Poor old Rafal. About as much love from Sagan as Bouhanni has for his DS.

I think probably more a case of Bora switching GC focus to Buchmann and Majka being free to go for stages or to play a support roll later.

blazing_saddles

From Dimension Data's stage report:
http://africasteam.com/2018/08/30/la-vu ... oses-time/

Immediately following the crash our riders worked hard at the front of the chasing group to try and catch the lead group, as we tried to bring Louis Meintjes back into contention. The peloton, being led by Team Sky, had turned up the speed at the front though, as they looked to profit from the misfortune of those affected by the crash.

No mention of Bora or EF etc.