Having moved westwards away from the Pyrenees, the Vuelta turns back towards the mountain chain with the first stage that should see the small cohort of specialist sprinters in the field come to centre stage.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
The riders will roll into action for 191.7 kilometres at Garray, just to the north of Soria, and close to the Celtiberian settlement of Numancia that was besieged by the Romans in the second century BC, and in recent years has been partly reconstructed. Heading east in the direction of Zaragoza, the route steadily loses altitude, dropping away from the Soria plateau and into western part of the region of Aragón.
This area is known as the Cinco Villas, of which there are three on the route: Tauste, Sádaba and the finish town of Ejea de los Caballeros. The terrain is very open and often quite windy, which could add some spice to what is a very straightforward stage on paper. It tends to come from the north, in which case it shouldn’t have too much of an impact until the riders turn east approaching the intermediate sprint at Sádaba, when it would be blowing side-on, perhaps offering the opportunity to force echelons to form. The course turns again beyond this sprint, running directly south-east into the finish, the prevailing wind now assisting the riders.
The run-in is uncomplicated, with a couple of roundabouts around two kilometres out from the line, and a relatively straight course beyond that. There’s a slight kink to the right 400 metres from the finish, where it seems likely that Tour de France points winner Sam Bennett will be the favourite for victory, with Pascal Ackermann and Jasper Philipsen probably among the Irishman’s biggest threats.
Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling. Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell, the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English. The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999, and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling. Since then, major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features, news, results, photos and tech reporting. The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.
