Vuelta a España Stage 16 Promises Painful Return From Rest Day
POIO,SPAIN - September 9,2024 – Riders returning from the Vuelta a España’s second rest day face a punishing Stage 16,a 167.9km (104.3 miles) route from Poio to Mos (Castro de Herville) designed to test the legs and potentially shake up the general classification. While lacking extremely high-altitude climbs,the stage features a relentless series of sharp ascents and a challenging finale that will punish any lingering fatigue.
This medium-mountain stage is poised to be a critical battleground for overall contenders like race leader Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates). The demanding terrain, packed with four categorized climbs in the latter half of the race, makes a successful breakaway attempt likely, but also creates a significant challenge for any GC hopefuls not feeling their best after the respite. The stage’s difficulty lies in its cumulative effect – a constant barrage of climbing that will expose weaknesses and could lead to time losses.
The route begins with a category three climb midway thru, before tackling the formidable aldo de Groba, an 11km category one ascent.The finale features a double punch of category two climbs – the Aldo de Prado and a summit finish – both appearing within the final 28km.Race director Fernando Escartín anticipates a difficult day for the peloton, noting, “In la Vuelta 21, we lived a thrilling stage headed to Mos on terrain that will, once again, receive the peloton in La vuelta 25. The stage features four point-incurring mountain passes and a very rugged terrain in the second-half of the stage, which will make it very difficult to bring down the day’s escape, should there be one.”
The stage’s profile suggests a high probability of a breakaway succeeding, but the presence of the GC contenders and the challenging final climbs mean the race for the overall victory will remain very much alive.
