Following a flat opening along the Costa del Sol the riders turn inland to approach a long and gradual climb. Following a fast drop down to the Bermejales reservoir another uphill leads to the plateau on which Granada sits. The Vuelta moves through the city in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada before heading to the 12.4 kilometres closing climb at 5.4%. That statistic is biased though as the climb in the Sierra de la Alfaguara features quite some double digit ramps. The ascent flattens out near the top.
Perfect course for attackers, although it is a likely scenario that they will be brought back before the last climb. Expect the likes of Valverde and Mas to come to the fore. If not, usual suspects to be in the break are De Gendt and Cummings.
Favourites 4th stage 2018 Vuelta a España
*** Alejandro Valverde, Nairo Quintana, Miguel Ángel López, Michal Kwiatkowski
** Simon Yates, Rigoberto Uran, Wilco Kelderman, Enric Mas, David de la Cruz
* Pierre Rolland, Thomas De Gendt, Stephen Cummings, Omar Fraile, Jésus Herrada
Vuelta a España 2018 stage 4: Route maps, height profiles, and more
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