September 3, Stage 12: Andorra - Lleida 172.5 km

This stage is identical to one from the 2010 edition that was won by Mark Cavendish.

Once again, the sprinters will be favourites for the spoils as the climbing, although quite substantial, comes mostly in the first half of the day on the gently weaving and picturesque ascent of the Bóixols, which is the only categorised climb on the route. Assuming they’ve still got plenty in the tank after Andorra’s mountain mayhem, the sprinters’ teams have got plenty of time beyond that to hase down the day’s break.

Given that this might even be the final opportunity for a bunch gallop until Madrid, they should have plenty of incentive to ensure that pursuit is successful

David López (Team Sky rider):

"This comes after a very hard stage in Andorra, so it should be a day for the sprinters’ teams, even though some will be getting tired. They’ll like the look of this one. The closing kilometres are easy and the last few days have been in the mountains, so they’ll need to take what is a rare opportunity for them."

The text in this preview originally appeared in the September edition of Procycling magazine (opens in new tab).