Stage 14: Don Benito–Pico Villuercas

Down and up the same mountain

With 3,200 meters (over 11,000 feet) of climbing, mostly packed into the final 80 kilometers, this mountain stage is even tougher than it looks. The climbing starts with 8 kilometers at an easy 5 percent to the Cat. 3 Puerto Berzocama; then comes 8 kilometers on a high plateau before the real action commences: a nasty 2.8-kilometer wall averaging 14 percent on striated concrete to a saddle just short of the day’s finish on the Pico Villuercas.

But there’s still 60 kilometers of racing to go. This commences by descending for 12 kilometers to Guadalupe on what will be the first part of the finishing climb—which could be a nasty psychological trial when they return here after a hilly 35-kilometer loop. The climb to the Pico Villuercas summit is almost 15 kilometers long at over 6 percent, with a 10-percent section in the middle. This is the first time that this mountain has featured in the Vuelta and its first stage winner will almost certainly be a top GC contender, maybe Roglič, Bernal, or Adam Yates.