Vuelta a España stage 9 preview: Pogacar crash blows race wide open before brutal mountain stage

Pogačar had dominated the opening week with three stage wins and a 3:50 advantage over Enric Mas, but his exit has blown the fight for the red jersey wide open. With no overwhelming favourite left in the race, stage 9 could now become the first major battle between the remaining GC contenders.

Stage 9 takes the peloton from La Vila Joiosa to the summit of the Alto de Aitana over 187.4 kilometres, with 4,952 metres of climbing packed into one relentless afternoon in the Costa Blanca mountains.

There are six categorised climbs along the route, beginning with the Puerto de Tárbena after less than 40 kilometres. The first category Miserat follows soon afterwards and, at 5.2 kilometres at 10%, provides the first serious opportunity to put riders into difficulty.

But everything points towards the final climb.

The Alto de Aitana measures 22 kilometres at 5.8%, making it the longest climb of this Vuelta so far. The average gradient is deceptive. After a relatively steady opening, the road becomes significantly harder towards the summit, with much of the final section around 8%.

Before Pogačar's abandon, this looked like another obvious opportunity for the Slovenian. Now, it could become one of the most unpredictable stages of the race.

Key information

• Start: 12:26 CEST
• Estimated finish: 17:14 CEST
• Stage type: Mountain
• Stage length: 187.4km
• Elevation gain: 4,952m

Follow stage 9 live at Domestique with our live reporting.

Stage 9 begins in La Vila Joiosa on the Mediterranean coast, but there is very little flat road once the peloton begins heading inland.

The first major test is the second category Puerto de Tárbena, 7.2 kilometres at 5.4%. Its summit comes after 36.7 kilometres and should play an important role in deciding which riders make the breakaway.

There is little time to settle afterwards.

The first category Miserat begins after 68.7 kilometres and is comfortably the steepest climb of the stage. It measures 5.2 kilometres at 10%, meaning any riders hoping to reach the finale with fresh legs will already have to spend plenty of energy.

The climbing continues with the third category Tollos before the race reaches the Puerto de Tudons, 7 kilometres at 5.3%, with 65.6 kilometres remaining.

The second category Puerto de Benifallim follows shortly afterwards. At 4.8 kilometres and 5.8%, it is not the hardest climb of the afternoon, but its summit comes with just 47.5 kilometres to go and should leave very little opportunity for recovery.

After a long descent towards Relleu, the road begins climbing for the final time with 22 kilometres remaining.

The Alto de Aitana initially looks relatively manageable, but the character of the climb changes considerably towards the top. After reaching the Puerto de Tudons junction with 6.6 kilometres remaining, the riders turn towards Aitana and enter the steepest section of the ascent.

From there, the gradient rarely offers much relief before the finish at 1,543 metres.

After almost 5,000 metres of climbing, there will be nowhere left to hide.

• Puerto de Tárbena | 2nd category | 7.2km at 5.4% | 150.7km to go
• Miserat | 1st category | 5.2km at 10% | 113.5km to go
• Tollos | 3rd category | 4.1km at 5.8% | 96.7km to go
• Puerto de Tudons | 2nd category | 7km at 5.3% | 65.6km to go
• Puerto de Benifallim | 2nd category | 4.8km at 5.8% | 47.5km to go
• Alto de Aitana | 1st category | 22km at 5.8% | summit finish

Everything changed with Tadej Pogačar's crash and subsequent abandon on stage 8.

Until that moment, the biggest question ahead of stage 9 was whether UAE Team Emirates-XRG would be willing to control almost 190 kilometres and nearly 5,000 metres of climbing in pursuit of a fourth Pogačar stage victory. Without the Slovenian, that responsibility suddenly falls elsewhere.

The teams of the remaining general classification contenders now have far more reason to control the race. Enric Mas (Movistar), Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM), Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike), Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) and Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) suddenly find themselves fighting for a Vuelta win that looked to out of reach only 24 hours earlier.

That could make the stage much more controlled than originally expected. With the gaps between many of the GC contenders still relatively small, their teams have little incentive to allow dangerous riders to gain significant time from the breakaway.

At the same time, Pogačar's absence has created a sudden power vacuum, and several teams may now see an opportunity to make a move for the throne, likely resulting in a much tighter grip on the stage from the peloton.

That new dynamic could also see UAE Team Emirates XRG adopt a far more aggressive approach.

Rather than carrying the responsibility of controlling the peloton for the race leader, UAE will now look for opportunities. Jay Vine, João Almeida and Pablo Torres are all riders who can be used offensively on a stage of this difficulty. 

Whether that means trying to join the early breakaway or attacking later in the stage will depend on how the new GC situation develops, but UAE suddenly have far more freedom to go into the attack. They already showed at the Giro, after Adam Yates was forced to abandon, just how successful they can be when given that kind of freedom.

If UAE riders like these, and others with similar profiles, are given the freedom to go up the road by the GC teams, Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno X Mobility) is another name to watch. 

He was arguably the strongest rider in the breakaway, but it was his teammate Andreas Leknessund who ultimately took the victory. Could stage 9 be Johannessen’s turn? The form certainly appears to be there, and he has already shown in several Grand Tours that he is capable of making the breakaway and remaining competitive deep into demanding mountain stages.

The same applies to Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), who was also active on stage 7 but never really came close to victory. Nevertheless, he has shown enough in the past to be considered a potential contender, and stage 9 should suit him better than Friday’s stage.

After Friday’s stage, Jarno Widar (Lotto-Intermarché) was very clear about his goal: not the GC, but a stage win. After showing good form in several stages, the young Belgian should certainly not be ruled out as a strong candidate for the breakaway. The same applies to fellow young Belgian Ramses Debruyne of Alpecin-Premier Tech.

Other names to keep in mind if the stage is decided from the breakaway? Jan Hirt (NSN), Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ United), Santiago Buitrago and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Jørgen Nordhagen (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Finlay Pickering (Jayco AlUla).