2024 Vuelta a España Stage 15 Live Coverage
Welcome to our live coverage of Stage 15 of the 2024 Vuelta a España! Our live profile and commentary are below, followed by a preview of the technical aspects of the route.
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Stage 15 on La Vuelta is a mountainous race of 142 kilometres. The riders tackle the Alto de Santo Emiliano and a double ascent of the Alto de la Colladiella before the Cuitu Negru is certainly going to cause havoc. It's an extremely long drag with an inhumanly steep finale.
Operating since 1954, the Valgrande Pajares ski resort is one of the oldest ski resorts in Spain. It’s located high up the Cuitu Negru and the easiest way to get there is with a ski lift. Obviously, the riders travel by bike, which means they cycle uphill for 19.5 kilometres against an average gradient of 5.2%. The first 7 kilometres are nergectible, maar then it begins. A section at 11% welcomes the riders roughly 7.5 kilometres from the finish, while the last 2.5 kilometres are especially brutal. This section goes up at almost 13% en peaks out at 24% just before the finish.
The run-up to the Cuitu Negru is not a walk in the park either. Following some minor climbs and a downhill, the riders take on the Alto de la Colladiella after almost 30 kilometres. The 7.8 kilometres at 7.1% precede the Alto de Santo Emiliano—5.4 kilometres at 5.6%—before the route circles back to the Colladiella. After the second ascent, the riders drop down to Figareo.
There are still 40 kilometres to go at this point, and it’s all uphill. First, it's a false flat, and then, after moving through Puente de los Fierros, the finish climb kicks in.
The first and only Vuelta stage finish at Cuitu Negru dates back to 2012. Before that it was a rocky rust road, which was asphalted for the occasion. As a thank you to the road workers, Dario Cataldo dug deep on the Cuitu Negru to hold off his breakaway companion Thomas De Gendt. In the fight for GC Joaquim Rodríguez dropped Alberto Contador in the dying metres to gain 2 seconds, while Alejandro Valverde crossed the line 19 seconds later. Chris Froome – third on GC at that moment – lost 2.32 minutes.
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.
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