Vuelta 2017 Favourites stage 16: Second stage victory for Froome?

The individual time trial in the Vuelta is played out on a rather flat course with five short and nasty slopes halfway. The route amounts to 40.2 kilometres. Who is favourite to win the race? (Slideshow route/profile)

The course of the 16th stage in the Vuelta a España runs through La Rioja, the wine province of Spain. Start is on the Los Arcos race track and the finish is in the centre of the local wine traid, Logroño.

Giro winner Tom Dumoulin originally planned to compete in the Vuelta, but on second thoughts he skipped the race to focus on the World Championships in Bergen. The Dutchman wants to win the rainbow jersey as a time trialist for the first time in his career, which is good news for chrono specialists who do participate in the Vuelta. Especially for Chris Froome, after Rohan Dennis left the Vuelta on the second rest day all eyes will be on the man in red.

The route is fairly straightforward – 40.2 kilometres and hardly any elevation gain with the exception of the section between kilometre 15.4 and kilometre 23.8 when the riders race five short slopes with gradients from 3.2% to 7%. Last year’s Vuelta took in a time trial of a similar distance, although the route was hillier. Froome powered to the win, half a minute ahead of Castroviejo and Contador.

Favourites 16th stage 2017 Vuelta

*** Chris Froome, Bob Jungels
** Nelson Oliveira, Wilco Kelderman, Stef Clement, Ilnur Zakarin
* Tejay van Garderen, Luis León Sánchez, Vincenzo Nibali, Alberto Contador, Kragh Søren Andersen