Departure place Lleida is located at an altitude of 150 metres and the Rabassa begins at 940 metres. Generally the route is a rolling false flat with some sections standing out – for instance the upward stretch to Cubélls. The riders move through Oliana and La Seu d’Urgell to reach Sant Julià de Lòria at the foot of the Col de la Rabassa. The haul up to the top recently featured in the Vuelta’s of 2015 and 2017, although not as the final climb.
The climb amounts to 17.8 kilometres and it kicks in hard. The first few hundred metres go up at almost 15% before it flattens out a little, yet until kilometre 5 the average gradient of the Rabassa is a whooping 8.4%. And still a long way to go… The average gradient of the total climb is 6.2%.
Vuelta a España 2018 stage 19: Route map, height profile, and more
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