2018 Vuelta a España Stage 16 Live Coverage
Welcome to our live coverage of Stage 16 of the 2018 Vuelta a España! Our live time-trial times and commentary are below, followed by a preview of the technical aspects of the route.
Course Preview
Stage 16 of La Vuelta offers the second individual time trial of this year's edition. Amounting to 32 kilometres, the race is being played out in Cantabria and the trying route runs from Santillana del Mar to Torrelavega.
Departure place Santillana del Mar is famous for its three lies. The town is neither holy (Santa), not flat (llana) and its not located on the sea (mar) either.
The fact that its not holy and not on the sea either will not bother most riders, yet the fact that the route is rolling and not flat at all will be a disappointment to most of them. The route is rather demanding – we are in Spain, who would expect otherwise?
The first kilometre sets the tone with its 5% slope and following the descent the route continues on rolling roads to the next uphill section. At kilometre 9.4 the riders climbs for 1 kilometre at 4% before the longest climb of the day appears almost 3 kilometre later. The 3.4 kilometre sector slopes at an average of 4% op. Following a 3 kilometres drop the last uphill sector climbs for 2 kilometres at 3.5% before the last 10 kilometres to the line in Torrelavega are either flat or downhill.
The profile of the route reminds of the individual time trial in last year’s Vuelta, although that route was 8 kilometres longer. Chris Froome took the stage win, 29 seconds ahead of Wilco Kelderman with Vincenzo Nibali almost 1 minute back.
Former World Champion Oscar Freire and Juan José Cobo were born in arrival place Torrelavega. The time trial finishes at the Complejo deportivo Oscar Freire – or, the Oscar Freire Sports Centre.
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