The first part of the race is nothing special. On rolling roads the riders head in southeasterly direction. After 45 kilometres the route descends before continuing in undulating fashion to the most trying section of the day with two climbs in 50 kilometres.
After 75 kilometres the route begins to runs false flat uphill into the Sierra de Francia. Gradually it gets steeper until the riders enter the Alto El Portillo. This is a 13.8 kilometres climb at 4.4%.
A descent of almost 15 kilometres takes the riders down to Las Mestas in the Extremadura. The road goes back up again, although the first 14 kilometres only as a false flat. But after moving through Riomalo de Arriba the El Robledo climb begins. This is a 6,7 kilometres ascent at approximately 7%. The first kilometre out of the village is particularly steep at 10.5%.
The riders crest the Robledo to descend back into Castile and León. A few uphill sections pep up the route before a 10 kilometres downhill leads onto a flat run-in of 5 kilometres to the line.
The race is expected to finish around 17.15 local time (CEST).
Other interesting reads:
– live race report
– today’s favourites
– GC after stage 15
– KOM classification
– points classification
– route entire Vuelta
– start list
– withdrawals
Vuelta a España 2020 stage 16: route, profiles, more
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