Vuelta 2021 Route stage 8: Santa Pola - La Manga del Mar Menor

The Spanish Grand Tour never before visited Santa Pola, a beach resort on Spain’s southern Costa Blanca. The riders head south along the Mediterranean coast to move through Torrevieja after 23 kilometres. The turquoise waters of the Mediterranean remain on their left until they reach Cartagena after 94 kilometres.

The inland spin in the last 70 kilometres features a number of small climbs, but presumably not enough to thwart a bunch sprint from happening.

It’s been 41 years since La Vuelta last visited La Manga del Mar Menor. In 1980, the town hosted the Big Start and Roberto Visentini won the ITT on the first day of action. In 1977, Freddy Maertens won his second of a total of thirteen stages that year, while he also took the overall. More recently, in 2018, Nacer Bouhanni outsprinted Danny van Poppel and Elia Viviani in nearby San Javier.

The first three riders on the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while there are 3, 2 and 1 seconds available at the intermediate sprint.

Another interesting read: results 8th stage 2021 Vuelta.

Vuelta a España 2021 stage 8: route, profiles, more

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