Following the start the route leaves iconic climbs up the Alto de Hazallanas, Alto de Monachil and Alto Hoya de la Mora alone. The riders travel south and then east to move through the Alpujarras. The region comprises the southern slopes of the Sierra Nevada and the adjacent valley with the Guadalfeo river on its bottom. Following the river upstream the route features quite some uphills, yet the average gradients are modest. With 26.7 kilometres remaining the Vuelta reaches the crest of Alto El Marcha, a 14.9 kilometres climb at 3.8%. A long and steady descent leads to the last 8 kilometres on the flat.
The route would be too hard for pure sprinters like Kittel and Cavendish, but as the start list of the Spanish Grand Tour usually features strong fast finishers we could expect the race to come down to a bunch sprint.
Arrival place Roquetas de Mar is situated on the Mediterranean Sea. It’s a popular finish in the Clásica Almería. Last February, Caleb Ewan outsprinted Danny van Poppel in the coastal town.
Favourites 5th stage 2018 Vuelta a España
*** Peter Sagan, Nacer Bouhanni
** Danny van Poppel, Phil Bauhaus, Michal Kwiatkowski
* Thomas De Gendt, Giovanni Visconti, Pierre Rolland, Tosh Van der Sande
Read also:
– route 5th stage
Vuelta a España 2018 stage 5: Route map, height profile, and more
Click on the images to zoom.
Lanjarón and Roquetas de Mar at Google Maps
Videos La Vuelta
Instagram @lavuelta
Vuelta a España Tweets