Coming after the first major summit finish of the Vuelta a España, this long stage heading into Castilla y Leon looks like a perfect stage for a breakaway or even for the hardy sprinters given the long climb in the middle.
The 190km stage 7 only features one categorised climb, but the Puerto de San Glorio could throw off some plans even if it does lie at 65km from the line.
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With a continual ascent of 19.5km and a summit at 1,600 metres, the climb could easily become a battleground for outsider GC threats. At the very least, the climb gives teams a chance to try and do away with the purer sprinters, a place for the break to extend their lead over a controlled peloton, or a spot for delicate balancing act between keeping the break in check while also keeping the sprinters safe.
Following from the climb after 126km of action, a fast chase to the line is possible. - either from sprinters getting back on, or between, the peloton and break. There's also a chance that the break is already minutes up the road, however.
It's largely flat on the way to Cistierna with a downhill run to the finish likely to make it a quick finish.
Route map for stage7 (Image credit: La Vuelta)
Puerto de San Glorio
It's difficult to imagine the Vuelta's fastest sprinters sticking with the main group to the top of the 1,600m summit of Puerto de San Glorio.
Whether it will prove tactical for the GC contenders, especially with Evenepoel's wildcard success on stage 6, is difficult to predict. However it seems sure that breakaway specialists will be hunting stage victory before the more savage mountains of the weekend.
We'll keep our eyes on Fred Wright following his third place stage 5 finish, off the back of countless near-wins this season, as well as the usual breakaway suspects.
Should a more rounded sprinter like Mads Pedersen clear the Puerto de San Glorio, the peloton seem unlikely to split on the long downhill run-in to Cistierna.
Following the unpredictability of stage 6, though, we wouldn't be surprised with a GC slugfest either.
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