The favorites for the general classification of the Vuelta Ciclista a Catalunya agree that the two mountain stages, ending in La Molina (Girona) and Boí Taüll (Lleida), They will probably decide the first places, especially on Thursday, with a challenging climb that the race has not faced for 20 years and that practically none of the participants has climbed.
“From what we have seen in the profiles, the Boí Taüll stage is going to be very tough, surely there will be surprises there. They are very long climbs with a lot of hardness, we will try to be in front,” Spanish cyclist Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) analyzes for EFE.
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Chaves does not lose hope
“Boí Taüll I do not know. For us it is important that there is no rain”, explains the Colombian cyclist Esteban Chaves, who last year won the Vuelta stage with a finish in a nearby port, Port Ainé (Lleida).
And I add: “There is a lot of uncertainty, a lot of nerves, a lot of desire and the mountain will decide who is ahead and who is not.”
The queen stage of this edition will start on Thursday from La Seu d’Urgell and will face two first category ports, Coll de Boixols and Port de la Creu de Perves, before the final climb to the Boí Taüll ski resort, of 12.7 kilometers.
The average slope is 5.6 percent, the strongest ramps reach 12 percent and the arrival is located at 2,015 meters of altitude.
Nairo Quintana was much more forward and warned that he will try to advance in the general classification, in which he is third.
“This Thursday the stage is important with hard climbs and we are excited to climb more places in the general classification. We are third and we continue to have good feelings,” said the Arkea-Samsic team rider from Boyacá.
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