2023 Vuelta a España Stage 5 Live Coverage
Welcome to our live coverage of Stage 5 of the 2023 Vuelta a España! Our live profile and commentary are below, followed by a preview of the technical aspects of the route.
Course Preview
The start of La Vuelta's 5th stage happens in Morella and the race comes 186.2 kilometres later to a halt in Burriana. The elevation gain is almost 2,400 metres.
Morella is a beautiful historic hilltop town in Castellón, a northern province of the Valencia region. It’s situated at almost 1,000 metres above sea level, but still, shortly after the start, the route climbs higher on the Ares del Maestre. A downhill and another ascent take the riders to historic Culla with 46.5 kilometres done.
La Vuelta then descends to enter an undulating phase. In Onda, with 74 kilometres to go, the route could have taken a left turn to reach the finish line in 20 kilometres. But instead, the route continues inland towards the Collado de la Ibola, which is an 11.4 kilometres climb with an average gradient of 3.9%. The statistic is biased though since the road goes slightly downhill in the village of Ain only to continue a lot steeper in the last 5 kilometres. This section features some double-digit ramps.
There are more than 53 kilometres remaining after the Collado de la Ibola. Mainly downhill, although a gentle climb at shallow gradients appears near Azuébar. The first half of the last 30 kilometres go downhill, the second half is flat.
The first three riders on the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while the intermediate sprint comes with 3, 2 and 1 seconds.
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