*Vuelta a España - Stage 6* Thursday 27nd August

Stage 6  »  Córdoba  ›  Sierra de Cazorla

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A long and lumpy old stage that will see another doomed breakaway, probably featuring riders from Caja Rural, Europcar and Columbia. Overall, this stage is fairly similar to stage 4. It only has two categorised climbs, both Cat 3s, but with some short but very steep ramps right at the end that will decide the stage. The stage starts in Cordoba, in South Central Spain. Cordoba is North East of Seville and was the most populated city in the World in the c10th, when under Islamic rule. The route heads almost due East, with the first 30km or so being almost entirely flat. It may be that the break does not get away until about this point, but get away it certainly will because after this initial flat the road is up and down for the rest of the day. There is a Cat 3 climb at 145km, Alto de Baeza, which is nearly 12km @ 3.5% from the valley but that doesn't tell the full picture. The average gradient is reduced massively by several flatter sections. There are several very steep sections on this climb too, especially towards the peak. Even after this climb this is very lumpy, with several sharp descents and climbs. After the towns of Upeda and Torreperogil there is a long descent before they start the rise towards the finish with about 23km to go.
Last kms

From the valley there is another 500+ metres of vertical climbing on this stage, but most of it is fairly gradual. The next 15km drag gradually upward at about 2-3% before a short quick descent just after the 5km to go banner as they make their way into Cazorla. The descent flattens out at almost exactly 3km to go, and this last 3000m will feel eerily similar to those who watched stage 4, as we again climb upwards to another hilltop town with the typical square white houses, and again we have two very sharp ramps in the last 3km. We hit the first ramp immediately, and this one averages about 11% through the suburban streets. This is a hard climb, with a short section above 15% as we approach Cazorla. They take a right into the middle of Cazorla, before a sharp left, still going up but less sharply now, onto a road that takes them through Cazorla's central square, Plaza de la Constitucion. Here, the peleton head left, back out of Cazorla. They continue to head through the urban streets, and as they come to the North side of Cazorla there are stunning views across the plains in front and to the left. As the riders go under the flamme rouge the road ramps back up, and again the gradient rises to 15% for most of the last km as the road heads round towards the Iruela where we find an 11th century Moorish, and later Templar fortress which towers over the town and road.
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Again the category of the climb betrays the severity of the slopes. In my eyes there are only two men that can win this stage, Alejandro Valverde and Joaquin Rodriguez. If you can get more than 4/1 about either of them it is a no brainer because they are the two men that have shown that they can win on these gradients time and time again. In my eyes, the sheer steepness of the final km favours Purito.