La Vuelta 2019, Stage 13: Bilbao > Los Machucos. Monumento Vaca Pasiega 06/09/2019 - 166.4km *Spo
blazing_saddles
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La Vuelta 2019, Stage 13: Bilbao > Los Machucos. Monumento Vaca Pasiega 06/09/2019 - 166.4km
The 13th stage of La Vuelta is a war of attrition. Following six intermediate climbs the race finishes atop Los Machucos. It is the first of a troika, which routes the Vuelta through the Cantabrian mountains ahead of a summit finish on the viciously steep ascent of Los Machucos. The Sanctuario del Acebo and Alto de la Cubilla being the other two.
Los Machucos this time comes as the seventh climb of an already demanding afternoon
Before the riders tackle Los Machucos, the riders first have to deal with the Alto de la Escrita (5.9km at 4%), Alto de Ubal (7.9km at 6%).
Collado de Asón (13km at 3.9%). Puerto de Alisas (8.5km at 6%).
Puerto de Vuenta las Varas (6.3km at 4.5%) and Puerto de la Cruz de Usaño (4.2km at 4.7%).
These a basically just the warm up exercise for a brutal finale. The ultimate climb is narrow and painfully steep. Eventual winner Chris Froome found himself on the back foot, while tackling Los Machucos in 2017.
This video captures some of the intensity of that day:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySslX_iIS-o
Los Machucos has its origins as a cattle herding track, and the Vuelta road book denotes the finish line as being near the ‘Monumento al Vaca Pasiega’ meaning the ‘Monument to the Pasiega Cow.’
Los Machucos is ‘only’ 880 metres high and 6.8km long, but its special category status is nonetheless richly deserved.
The average gradient of 9.2% tells only part of the story, as the road pitches up to a dizzying 25% inside the opening two kilometres.
The climb is seesawing between ‘rampas inhumanas’ and 10% descents, although the section between kilometre 3 and 6 is more steady with its average gradient of more than 10%. The climb flattens out near the top, while the ultimate kilometre begins with a drop before a false flat last stretch.
As for who might win this stage, it does look set up to be a probably win from the breakaway, but in terms of the GC, could this be a sign of things to come?
Favourites 13th stage 2019 Vuelta a España
The odds are that yet another breakaway will make it to the finish, so it's a question of who gets in it and whether they are any good at mountaineering.
*** Mikel Nieve, Dylan Teuns, Wout Poels
** Primoz Roglic, Nairo Quintana, Alejandro Valverde
* Miguel Ángel López, Rafal Majka, Esteban Chaves, Tadej Pogacar, Daniel Felipe Martínez
Bilbao
32 stages of La Vuelta have departed from Bilbao
345,110 inhabitants
Festivals and events.
Bilbao hosts several regular festivals and events. The most relevant is the Big Week of the city (Aste Nagusia), celebrated annually since 1978 and lasting nine days. It is the city's main festival, attracting over 1,500,000 people every year. The festivities begin on the first Saturday before 22 August, and during those nine days the city hall organises a series of cultural events of diverse kind, including concerts, stage plays, Basque rural sports and bullfighting, as well as nightly firework displays. The festivities begin with the chupinazo or txupinazo, which is the launch of a small rocket, and the reading of a proclamation by the festivities' herald. The central point of the festivities is the place around the txosnas, where the different konpartsak are reunited, organised by neighbourhood associations as well as cultural, social and political groups. The symbol of the festivities is Marijaia, a large doll which is burned during the last day of celebrations.
Crowd control.
Los Machucos. Monumento Vaca Pasiega
1 stage of La Vuelta have had finale in Los Machucos.
Two years ago in Los Machucos, Stefan Denifl managed the only victory in La Vuelta 2017 for a wildcard team. This was witnessed by the Monumento a la Vaca Pasiega, a monument built on this peak to honour the local cattle species that was long believed to be extinct. The stone cow was a first-hand spectator of the Austrian rider’s victory, who crossed the line flanked by Alberto Contador, second, and minutes later it welcomed the peloton, exhausted after climbing the extremely steep slopes on this mountain pass in the region of Cantabria.
The models.
The 13th stage of La Vuelta is a war of attrition. Following six intermediate climbs the race finishes atop Los Machucos. It is the first of a troika, which routes the Vuelta through the Cantabrian mountains ahead of a summit finish on the viciously steep ascent of Los Machucos. The Sanctuario del Acebo and Alto de la Cubilla being the other two.
Los Machucos this time comes as the seventh climb of an already demanding afternoon
Before the riders tackle Los Machucos, the riders first have to deal with the Alto de la Escrita (5.9km at 4%), Alto de Ubal (7.9km at 6%).
Collado de Asón (13km at 3.9%). Puerto de Alisas (8.5km at 6%).
Puerto de Vuenta las Varas (6.3km at 4.5%) and Puerto de la Cruz de Usaño (4.2km at 4.7%).
These a basically just the warm up exercise for a brutal finale. The ultimate climb is narrow and painfully steep. Eventual winner Chris Froome found himself on the back foot, while tackling Los Machucos in 2017.
This video captures some of the intensity of that day:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySslX_iIS-o
Los Machucos has its origins as a cattle herding track, and the Vuelta road book denotes the finish line as being near the ‘Monumento al Vaca Pasiega’ meaning the ‘Monument to the Pasiega Cow.’
Los Machucos is ‘only’ 880 metres high and 6.8km long, but its special category status is nonetheless richly deserved.
The average gradient of 9.2% tells only part of the story, as the road pitches up to a dizzying 25% inside the opening two kilometres.
The climb is seesawing between ‘rampas inhumanas’ and 10% descents, although the section between kilometre 3 and 6 is more steady with its average gradient of more than 10%. The climb flattens out near the top, while the ultimate kilometre begins with a drop before a false flat last stretch.
As for who might win this stage, it does look set up to be a probably win from the breakaway, but in terms of the GC, could this be a sign of things to come?
Favourites 13th stage 2019 Vuelta a España
The odds are that yet another breakaway will make it to the finish, so it's a question of who gets in it and whether they are any good at mountaineering.
*** Mikel Nieve, Dylan Teuns, Wout Poels
** Primoz Roglic, Nairo Quintana, Alejandro Valverde
* Miguel Ángel López, Rafal Majka, Esteban Chaves, Tadej Pogacar, Daniel Felipe Martínez
Bilbao
32 stages of La Vuelta have departed from Bilbao
345,110 inhabitants
Festivals and events.
Bilbao hosts several regular festivals and events. The most relevant is the Big Week of the city (Aste Nagusia), celebrated annually since 1978 and lasting nine days. It is the city's main festival, attracting over 1,500,000 people every year. The festivities begin on the first Saturday before 22 August, and during those nine days the city hall organises a series of cultural events of diverse kind, including concerts, stage plays, Basque rural sports and bullfighting, as well as nightly firework displays. The festivities begin with the chupinazo or txupinazo, which is the launch of a small rocket, and the reading of a proclamation by the festivities' herald. The central point of the festivities is the place around the txosnas, where the different konpartsak are reunited, organised by neighbourhood associations as well as cultural, social and political groups. The symbol of the festivities is Marijaia, a large doll which is burned during the last day of celebrations.
Crowd control.
Los Machucos. Monumento Vaca Pasiega
1 stage of La Vuelta have had finale in Los Machucos.
Two years ago in Los Machucos, Stefan Denifl managed the only victory in La Vuelta 2017 for a wildcard team. This was witnessed by the Monumento a la Vaca Pasiega, a monument built on this peak to honour the local cattle species that was long believed to be extinct. The stone cow was a first-hand spectator of the Austrian rider’s victory, who crossed the line flanked by Alberto Contador, second, and minutes later it welcomed the peloton, exhausted after climbing the extremely steep slopes on this mountain pass in the region of Cantabria.
The models.
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An oversight that I shall rectify.
Hopefully we see some GC action from further out than the last climb though I can't really see it - you live in hope though. If Lotto Visma can stay with Roglic onto that last climb you'd think the gradient would make it one he could defend on his own given the steep gradients. If a Quintana or Lopez or Pogacar attacks then even if Roglic is having to cover them himself the ones behind aren't going to be getting it much easier at all sitting on his wheel.
The reason? Climbing this monster:
Just had a very nice photo of my nephew, on the top. He climbed Covadonga yesterday in the cold and wet, but found it not too bad to climb. I doubt that he feels the same about today's little effort.
Looks to me as if La Vuelta have been missing a trick.
Ooof. Tough.
Higuita currently making big GC gains, but the gap will shrink for sure before the stage ends.
Héctor Sáez has escaped the breakaway and is building a tidy lead.
Antwan Tolhoek, Sam Oomen, Tom Dumoulin, Thymen Arensman, Remco Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Tom Pidcock, Mark Cavendish, Romain Bardet
Taken back a couple of minutes already and the breakaway boys finesse and Saez rides on.
Saez starts the climb with 3 and a quarter minutes.
The rest have less than 2.
Saez overtaken by Armirail (whohe?)
They're doing a fantastic job of getting Valverde into the front.
Antwan Tolhoek, Sam Oomen, Tom Dumoulin, Thymen Arensman, Remco Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Tom Pidcock, Mark Cavendish, Romain Bardet
Antwan Tolhoek, Sam Oomen, Tom Dumoulin, Thymen Arensman, Remco Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Tom Pidcock, Mark Cavendish, Romain Bardet
Tourism in Slovenia is about to experience an upturn.
The fat lady decided to sing a week early. It's just a question of who joins Roglic on a distant podium.
Now that was a brutal stage. Do you think he’s dodgy?
Antwan Tolhoek, Sam Oomen, Tom Dumoulin, Thymen Arensman, Remco Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Tom Pidcock, Mark Cavendish, Romain Bardet
She isn't singing yet. Still 8 stages to go. It's been a brutal race.
Sure there are 8 stages left and anything is possible.
However, main threat Lopez hasn't been the same rider since his crash on Sunday and lost a big chunk of time, today.
Valverde is Roglic's closest rival.
Nicolas Edet rode in the bunch and still improved his GC position ffs.
Brian Smith on the breakaway already talking about these guys shifting focus to try and hang onto a podium.
No Froome here.
I'd say she's singing quite loudly.
I also don't think it's been a brutal GT, as the contenders have been pretty selective about where and when they make their effort.
I agree with all that.