From start to finish the route is undulating between altitudes of 200 to 450 metres. So it’s not pan-flat, but a pro-cyclist shouldn’t feel the inclination. If everybody stays upright in the finale nothing should stand in the way of a bunch sprint. Timing will be essential, as always, but in Lleida even more as the route is an uphill false flat from 700 metres until 200 metres before the line. The last 200 metres are flat.
Three years ago Danny van Poppel won La Vuelta’s sprint in Lleida.
Elia Viviani won the 3rd stage, which was the first bunch sprint of the 2018 Vuelta. Following a race with some 2,500 vertical metres, the Italian Champion outgunned Giacomo Nizzolo and Peter Sagan. In the 6th stage Nacer Bouhanni outgunned Danny van Poppel and Elia Viviani, who bounced back with a clean win in the 10th stage ahead of Peter Sagan and Giacomo Nizzolo.
Favourites 18th stage 2019 Vuelta a España
*** Elia Viviani, Danny van Poppel, Peter Sagan
** Simone Consonni, Giacomo Nizzolo, Max Walscheid
* Matteo Trentin, Michael Schwarzmann, Ryan Gibbons
Vuelta a España 2018 stage 18: Route map, height profile, and more
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