Vuelta a España stage 19 preview - Opportunity for the fast men in Guijuelo

Key Information

• Date: Friday, 12 September
• Start: 13:50 (CET)
• Expected Finish: 17:21 (CET)
• Stage type: Flat
• Stage length: 161.9km
• Elevation gain: 1,517m

The stage begins in Rueda, a province of Valladolid, which makes its debut hosting the start of a Vuelta stage.

The route heads southwest for the first 103km until reaching Salamanca, where the stage’s intermediate sprint takes place. 

From this point, 58.8km remain, and the route travels south from Salamanca towards the town of Guijuelo, which will host the conclusion of stage 19. Guijuelo has hosted one previous stage finish in the Vuelta, back in 1990 on a stage won by the late Néstor Oswaldo Mora of Colombia.

Like the majority of the route, the final 50km aren't flat, with some rolling terrain, which shouldn’t impact the riders significantly, but is important to note nonetheless. There are always threats of the wind creating havoc, though this currently looks unlikely.

The riders will pass through the finish town of Guijuelo inside the final 10km, continuing south towards the Autovían Ruta de la Plata on a downhill section until 5km to go, before looping back north with a right-hand turn just shy of 3km from the finish.

The run-in to the finish isn’t complicated with a slight curve to the right inside the flamme rouge, before a dead-straight final 600m to the finish line, where the stage will be decided. It’s not pan-flat at the finish, with the road rising to around 3% on average for the final 2km, which could sting the legs if the sprint isn’t timed to perfection. 

Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceunick) has proven to be the fastest in the two purest bunch sprints so far on stages 1 and 8, whilst finishing 2nd on stage 4, which rose in gradients to the line. The Belgian team still has its excellent leadout, featuring Edward Planckaert, Oscar Riesebeek, and Jonas Rickaert, which will be an added advantage for Philipsen.

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) finally got his well-deserved victory on stage 15 and is on the verge of sealing the points classification. Whilst the Dane hasn’t shown his best stuff in the sprint stages so far, this point in the Grand Tour can significantly influence the sprint with fatigue firmly set in, and perhaps the green jersey could give Pedersen wings.

Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech) illustrated that he still has good legs after a strong performance in the time trial on stage 18. The British rider has been runner-up on the two bunch sprints on stages 1 and 8, and was 4th on the sprint that dragged uphill to the line on stage 4. Jake Stewart presents another card to play, as another rider well-versed in this type of finale.

Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers) won stage 4, which had not too dissimilar a finish, with a rise to the finish line. The British rider will be looking to continue the team’s strong momentum in the final week with recent stage wins for Egan Bernal and Filippo Ganna.

Orluis Aular (Movistar) should thrive on a finish like this, and if the Venezuelan gets this right could be an outsider for a stage win, but more likely a podium finish.

At this stage in a Grand Tour, stages like this can be difficult to control for the sprint teams with reduced numbers, fatigue, among other factors. Riders who could look to take advantage of this are likely to be the powerful types such as Nico Denz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Alec Segaert (Lotto), and Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ). 

Other riders to watch out for in the finish include: Fabio Christen and Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), Bryan Coquard and Stanisław Aniołkowski (Cofidis), Madis Mihkels (EF Education-EasyPost), Elia Viviani (Lotto), Anders Foldager (Jayco AlUla), Jordan Labrosse (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Ivo Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) Thibaud Gruel (Groupama–FDJ), Arne Marit (Intermarché-Wanty), Guillermo Thomas Silva (Caja Rural), Nicolò Buratti (Bahrain-Victorious), Gianmarco Garafoli (Soudal-QuickStep), Tim van Dijke (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Carlos Canal and Iván García Cortina (Movistar) and Jenthe Biermans (Arkéa-B&B Hotels).

Vuelta a España stage 19 favourites

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Mads Pedersen
⭐️⭐️ Jasper Philipsen, Ben Turner
⭐️ Ethan Vernon, Jake Stewart, Anders Foldager, Orluis Aular, Jenthe Biermans, Fabio Christen, Thibaud Gruel

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