2024 Vuelta a España Stage 13 Live Coverage
Welcome to our live coverage of Stage 13 of the 2024 Vuelta a España! Our live profile and commentary are below, followed by a preview of the technical aspects of the route.
Course Preview
The riders traverse Galicia for the fourth day in a row and cross into neighbouring Castile-Léon in the final kilometres. The 171-kilometer race commences in Lugo and finishes on the Puerto de Ancares, a brutal 12 kilometre climb with an average gradient of 9.3%.
Lugo is the capital of the northwestern region of Galicia. The town reserves major remains of its Roman past. The intact city walls from that era—built 263 and 276 A.D. and stretching 2.1 kilometres—are one of the trademarks of Lucus Augusti, as Lugo was called in Roman times.
Lugo is situated in the heart of Galicia. In the last of three Galicians stages, the riders set off to the east and finish in Castile-Léon. while doing so, they tackle five intermediate climbs, three of which are KOM-worthy – Alto Campo de Arbre, Alto O Portel, and Puerto de Lumeras. The first two are situated in the first half of the route, while the latter immediately precedes the brutal finish climb. The Lumeras is 6.7 kilometres long and averaging 6%.
The Puerto de Ancares is a beast, rising at almost 12% in the last 5 kilometres and having the steepest ramp—almost 20%—inside the final 1.5 kilometres. The entire climb totals 7.6 kilometres, while the average gradient is 8.9%. The first 2 kilometres and the last 100 metres are merely false flats.
La Vuelta last visited the Puerto de Ancares in 2014, although it was tackled on another – but still brutal – side. It was the last call for that year’s red jersey and the race came down to a fascinating fight between the big four. Following attacks by Joaquim Rodriguez and Chris Froome, Alberto Contador outsmarted the lot and took both the stage and the GC victory. El Pistolero crossed the line 16 seconds ahead of Froome, with Valverde almost 1 minute in arrears. Purito faded away in the last part of the climb and finished in fourth. Two years before that glorious battle it was the other way around, as Rodriguez triumphed ahead of Contador, Valverde and Froome with Dani Moreno squeezed in in fourth position.
The first three riders on the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while the intermediate sprint comes with 6, 4 and 2 seconds.
Get our full coverage of the Vuelta a España and every race we cover with our mobile app! The apps have over 100 additional exclusive features, including our award-winning Time Machine feature that lets you pause/rewind/replay the entire app to sync with delayed race video, integrated Fantasy Cycling, push notifications, an integrated news feed, live GPS tracking, world-class commentary, and our animated interactive maps and profiles.
