Vuelta 2017 Favourites stage 9: Punchers on sharp climb to the line

The 9th stage of the Vuelta runs to a summit finish in Cumbre del Sol. Two years ago, Tom Dumoulin bested Chris Froome in a direct confrontation on the same arrival. Following a fairly flat stage the 4 kilometres climb to the line is averaging 9.1%, while the steepest sector is 1%. (Slideshow route/profile)

The 9th stage of the Vuelta a España travels in 174 kilometres from Torrevieja to Cumbre del Sol. The route runs mostly along the Costa Blanca to pass through such places as Benidorm, Altea and Calpe.

The last 50 kilometres feature two ascents up the Alto de Puig Llorença. The climb is located in Cumbre del Sol, a residential area in the municipality Benitachell. The first ascent does not go all the way to the top, but with approximately 40 kilometres left to race the riders plunge down to sea level. With some 15 kilometres to go a a short climb and subsequent descent usher in the finale. The last climb amounts to 4.1 kilometres with an average gradient of 8.8%. It’s an irregular ascent with a steepest ramp of 21% after 1 kilometre.

Favourites 9th stage Vuelta 2017
*** Chris Froome, Fabio Aru, Alberto Contador, Alexey Lutsenko
** Julian Alaphilippe, Wilco Kelderman, Domenico Pozzovivo, Louis Meintjes
* Rafal Majka, Nicolas Roche, Esteban Chaves, Michael Woods, David de la Cruz