The Vuelta a Epsaña peloton will return from its first rest day to face a transition stage in the province of Albacete, which is expected to see the overall battle set on the back burner to simmer while the break riders and sprinters’ teams take their chance.
The new GC order following the departure of the injured Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) settled into on stage 9, with Enric Mas (Movistar) enhancing his hold on the leader's red jersey. The hilly terrain will also give other types of riders a chance to test out the new dynamic.
Starting in Alcaraz, stage 10 heads south to the Sierra de Alcaraz, via the uncategorized climb of Puerto de Las Crucetas with pitches around 8% cresting 23 kilometres into the 184.7km stage.
From there, the route works its way through the mountainous Sierra del Segura, climbing Puerto del Peralejo, Puerto de Aýna and Puerto de Socovos. The undulating terrain continues for 21.5 kilometres to the finish in Elche de la Sierra, known worldwide for their sawdust carpets.
It's a largely uphill run through the final five kilometres, which, if the break hasn't managed to stay away, could play into the hands of a rider like Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike), who has already won challenging finished from the bunch twice this edition.
Alternatively perhaps the Classics style profile could lean toward his teammate and points leader, Wout van Aert, instead or maybe Lidl-Trek's Mads Pedersen.
Given what's ahead later this week, the one thing that can be counted on is that the riders and teams who favour flat to hilly terrain will go all out to make the most of the next two days of racing.
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Climbs
Puerto del Peralejo (cat. 3, 5.2km at 4.3%), km. 47.6
Puerto de Aýna (cat. 3, 7.7km at 4%), km. 86.3
Puerto de Socovos (cat. 3, 9.7km at 3.5%), km. 163.2
Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites.
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