Following a relatively easy day in the foothills of the Pyrenees the Coll de la Rabassa kicks in hard. The first kilometre features some stretches of 13% and more before the second kilometre is a false flat. Until kilometre 6 the Rabassa is an energy sapping monster, but then the climb mellows out with gradients mostly fluctuating between 3 and 5%.
Big question in advance obviously is the lead with which the breakaway hits the Rabassa. And whether there are any good climbers on board or not. As the route is mostly flat until the final climb you don’t need to possess climbing legs to be able to make it into the break. But to win… that is something else.
As the big names on GC are still close together, we should expect them to battle for the stage win – if only for the time bonuses at the top.
Favourites 19th stage 2018 Vuelta a España
*** Simon Yates, Miguel Ángel López, Alejandro Valverde, Enric Mas
** Nairo Quintana, Thibaut Pinot, Michal Kwiatkowski, Steven Kruijswijk
* Rafal Majka, Thomas De Gendt, Bauke Mollema, Davide Formolo, Wilco Kelderman
Vuelta a España 2018 stage 19: Route map, height profile, and more
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