Preview: What you need to know about stage 15 of the 2022 Vuelta a España
Preview: What you need to know about stage 15 of the 2022 Vuelta a España
Date: Sunday September 4
Start: Martos
Finish: Alto Hoya de la Mora
Distance: 152.6 km
A day that includes more than 4,000 metres of climbing into the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The day starts out in the province of Jaén “where the heat will undoubtedly play an important role”, according to technical director Fernando Escartín, and then it’s climbing time.
There’s an early Cat 3, then the Cat 1 Alto del Purche (9.1 km at 7.6%), and finally the “special category” climb to Alto Hoya de la Mora: 19.3 km at 7.9% average, with the first few kilometres averaging well over 10%. Note that the finish line is at 2,512 metres above sea level – not insignificant altitude.
This is a super tough day to lead the riders in the final rest day.
Who’s it for: Hard to say whether the winner will come from the break or the GC group, but either way, the GC will undergo some change on this stage, and Remco Evenepoel will certainly be put under pressure by his rivals after his off day on stage 14.
Riders who grew up at altitude might fancy this one, so look to Miguel Ángel López and Richard Carapaz to make theirs a very good weekend, or perhaps Rigoberto Uran and Esteban Chaves can get something out of the Vuelta for EF Education-EasyPost.
