Villareal is home to Villareal Club de Fútbol, a football club playing in the primera division. But today the town is the one and only departure place to the 6th stage of the Vuelta a Espana.
The first 13.4 kilometres are completely flat and after the passage in Nules the roads start to become sloping. Not steep at all, but with 48 kilometres done the riders crest Alto de Alcudia de Veo. Following a short descent the Puerto de Eslida appears. The climb is averaging 5.6%, while is is crested at kilometre 59.8.
A gradual descent and a gradual climb lead to the summit of Alto de Chirivilla before another gradual descent leads to the foot of the Puerto del Oronet – a 6.4 kilometres climb at 4%. Nothing to worry about.
The last climb of the day is Puerto del Garbi, a 9.3 kilometres ascent with steepest ramps of 11%. Yet, the average gradient is 5.2%, so that’s another case of ‘nothing to worry about’. Except for the fast men, probably.
At the top of Puerto del Garbi there are 36.4 kilometres left to race, mostly downhill. The final 3 kilometres are on the flat.
The first three riders on the line take time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while the intermediate sprint (at kilometre 196.2) comes with 3, 2 and 1 seconds.
Read also: results/race report 6th stage 2017 Vuelta.
Vuelta 2017 stage 6: Route maps, height profiles, and more
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