La Vuelta visited La Farrapona in 2014, an Asturian mountain in Somiedo Natural Park. Back then it served as finish climb to the Queen Stage. The race boiled down to a Alberto Contador/Chris Froome clash with El Pistolero taking the spoils with a lead of 14 second. Froome dictated the pace on the climb and Contador sticked to his wheel, but in the last kilometre the Spaniard was off to solo to victory.
La Farrapona is 16.5 kilometres long and the average gradient sits at 6.2%, which is a biased statistic. After 7 kilometres the route descends for a bit, while the last 5 kilometres climb at more than 10%. The ascent levels out to 8% with 500 metres out.
The finish climb will kick in extra hard as the run-in to the finale serves a succession of four climbs. The Alto de la Campa (8.3 kilometres at 4%) appears from the gun before the uphill action really gets going after 50 kilometres. Firstly the riders ascend the Alto de la Colladona (7 kilometres at 6.5%) and with intervals of 40 kilometres the race continues over the Alto de la Cobertoria (9.8 kilometres at 9%) and the Puerto de San Lorenzo (10 kilometres at 8.6%).
There are 34 kilometers to go at the top of the San Lorenzo. The riders drop down into the valley to continue straight onto the Alto de la Farrapona.
The intermediate sprint – at the base of the Puerto de San Lorenzo – comes with time bonuses of 3, 2 and 1 seconds, while the first three riders on the line gain 10, 6 and 4 seconds.
Other interesting reads:
– results 11th stage 2020 Vuelta a España
– KOM classification
– points classification
Vuelta a España 2020 stage 11: route, profiles, more
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