Ponferrada is a town in Northwestern Spain, an area frequently featured in the Vuelta in recent years. The River Sil flows through Ponferrada. It lies in the Bierzo valley and is surrounded by mountains. Hikers en bikers heading for Santiago de Compostella are familiar with the place, since it’s the last major town before they reach their main goal. Long before Christ the region was populated. Around 20 BC the Romans arrived here and their aim was obvious: gold, other metals and minerals. It didn’t take long before the area was the largest mining center the Romans ever exploited. A lot of the mines are still visible today. A very special one is Las Médulas, a World Heritage Site since 1997.
Route
Let’s go cycling. The road race is a criterium of 18.2 kilometres in length. The first 4 kilometres are flat, after which the start of the climb to Alto de Montearenas has an average gradient of 8%. After a few hundred meters the ascent flattens and the remaining 5.1 kilometres are 3.5% on average. Next is a descent, the steepest part is after 11 kilometres – at this point the riders are going downhill with a 16% negative gradient. Alto de Compostilla is a short climb of 1.1 kilometre. The average gradient is 6.5 % and some of the steepest parts are 11%. The remaining distance of 4.5 kilometres is almost completely going down, after which the finish is perfect for a bunch sprint. Only question being: is trail with 14 times those nasty climbs perfect for a bunch sprint as well? Looks like a group of escapees will take their chances and are going to decide who will be the next World Champion.
Details of the route
Circuit length: 18, 2 km
Laps: 14
Total distance: 254, 8 km
Maximum altitude: 709 m
Minimum altitude: 509 m
Total ascent: 4.284 m
Maximum positive gradient: 11%
Maximum negative gradient: -16%
World Championships 2014 Ponferrada – Road race: images and more
Click on the images to zoom.
very difficult, sprinter could win….
It is probably to difficult for a sprinter like Cavendish. It fits better for persons like Valverde and Sagan.
well, it looks difficult, but the best sprinters, will get their teams to control it…my bet is cavendish, sagan, cancellara. Q. from england which is the best way to get there?
i dont think it suits pure sprinters – look at overall climbed meters: more than 4200. that is equal to vueltas hardest king stage 16. i think even classical types of riders like cancellara will have problems.
my bet on top10 is valverde, sagan, purito, (although those 2 will be death after vuelta), kwiatkovski, stybar, lobato, navardauskas, gerrans, van avarmaet, geraint thomas, vanmarcke, terpstra, wiggins, vanendert,pozzovivo, trentin
in my opinion teams like portugal, spain and other have to endurance the pace to difficult sprinters arrived with the bests. rui costa is a ig favourite but in my opinion sagan, valverde and kristoff are the favourites.
Flying to Oviedo, Santander or Santiago de Compostella are probably the best options. Madrid is about 390 km away.