Preview - Vuelta a Espana 2022 stage 20

The final mountain stage of the Vuelta a Espana. At the end of three weeks of racing it will be a complicated day, but the Sierras de Madrid often offer dramatic race, and with 4000 meters of climbing on the day that will be a make-or-break ride for many.

The first 25 kilometers of the day aren’t overly hard, but the Puerto de Navacerrada will open things up with 10 kilometers at 6.8%. It will set up for the day, packed with climbs that aren’t overly hard or overly steep, but are combined quite difficult. A long flat section will anticipate the Puerto de Navafria (10Km, 5.5%) which will have it’s summit with 87 kilometers to go.

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The race willl then enter it’s crucial section, with 54 kilometers to go the riders will go over the Puerto de Canencia (7.3Km, 4.8%) and shortly after the Puerto de Morcuera which has 9.2 kilometers at 6.8%, and a bonus sprint at the summit with 37.7 kilometers to go. It’s perhaps the most difficult climb of the day, and a technical descent follows. It’s an explosive ascent, however there will be another opportunity to create the difference.

That will be at the Puerto de Cotos, the last serious climb of the race. 10.5 kilometers at 5.6%, not a brutal ascent but this combination saw Tom Dumoulin loose the 2015 Vuelta. This final climb will finish with 6.7 kilometers to go, and a small plateau section will have the riders end the stage in the Puerto de Navacerrada.

CyclingUpToDate prediction:
**** Remco Evenepoel
*** Enric Mas, João Almeida
** Miguel Ángel López, Juan Ayuso, Ben O'Connor
* Jai Hindley, Thymen Arensman, Richard Carapaz, Thibaut Pinot