VUELTA A ESPAÑA
1 TUESDAY 20 OCTOBER
IRUN TO ARRAT. EIBAR | 173KM |HILLY
With Covid-19 putting paid to plans for three opening stages in the Netherlands, the Basque Country will instead host the beginning of the Vuelta for the first time since 1961.
This will also be the first time since 2007 that the Vuelta has begun with a road stage, meaning punchy climbers will get to duke it out for the red jersey as well as the stage win on the uphill finish to the Sanctuary of Arrate. A regular in the Tour of the Basque Country stage race, Monte Arrate constitutes 5km of densely wooded and very steep, narrow road.
If what happened the last time the Vuelta visited in 2012 is any indication, the climb will set the pattern for the rest of the race: that day, the four riders who broke clear from the rest of the peloton, Alberto Contador, Alejandro Valverde, Joaquim Rodríguez and Chris Froome, were the eventual top four in the general classification.
2 WEDNESDAY 21 OCTOBER
PAMPLONA TO LEKUNBERRI | 151.6KM | HILLY
Unlike those attending the annual running of the bulls event held as part of the San Fermin festival, the riders won’t have to make too much haste leaving Pamplona, as the day’s significant climbing does not kick off until 125km later with the category-one, 10km-long San Miguel de Aralar.
Italian climber Fabio Aru won the last time the Vuelta featured this climb in 2014, but this time the riders will descend for 17km upon summiting towards a finish in Lekunberri. Nevertheless, the double-digit gradients and rough concrete surface towards the top should provoke gaps between the favourites big enough to
