About as flat as stages come in this part of southern Spain, this one does give the sprinters good reason for optimism. It is not problem-free, though. There are two categorised climbs and plenty of ups and downs in between them. The tougher of the two ascents comes early on, while there are almost 40 kilometres to the finish from the top of the cat 3 climb. The final 5km into new stage town Alcaudete rises steadily at around 4 per cent, which may well bring some punchier riders into the frame as well as the sprinters.
It's the kind of day where a rider such as Orica's Michael Albasini could lead the pack home, with the GC contenders happy to roll in behind him with their eyes already on Sunday's summit finish.
-
Tour de France stage 14 LIVE - Evenepoel abandons early in hardest stage of the race so far
The peloton tackles a demanding day in the high mountains, cresting the Col du Tourmalet, Col d’Aspin, Col de Peyresourde and the summit finish to the ski resort at Superbagnères -
Remco Evenepoel abandons Tour de France on Col du Tourmalet
Belgian climbs off during stage 14 in Pyrenees on third successive day of struggles -
Baloise Ladies Tour: Zoe Bäckstedt takes stunning solo victory on stage 3 metres ahead of chasing pack
British rider attacked alongside second-place Marie Schreiber in final kilometres on the first of today's two stages -
EF Education-EasyPost return to Tour de France stage hunting after Ben Healy's stint in yellow
Irishman only just outside the top 10 but stages likely to be team's continued focus
