Cartagena means literally ‘new city’. But it’s not that new at all. The Carthaginians formed the town in the third century before Christ. While the Carthaginians were seafarers, the peloton is quite the opposite. So the route leads inland into the Murcia region.
The first part of the stage is flat before the route starts to climb after approximately one hour of racing. The Puerto Casas de la Marina la Perdiz is a 12.1 kilometres long climb at 4.9%. The route then continues is a more lumpy fashion. The roads go up and down during the entire day, but both the length of the hills and the gradients not intimidating at all.
On paper, stage 9 at La Vuelta looks promising for attackers and if the race does pan out with a successful breakaway the finish climb is sure to liquidate the lesser climbers on board. It is 7.5 kilometres at 6%, but also features a section of 1.8 kilometres at 9.5% inside the last 4 kilometres.
The first three riders on the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds, while the intermediate sprint comes with 3, 2 and 1 seconds.
Vuelta a España 2023 stage 9: profile, more
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