Vuelta stage finish at Bola del Mundo under threat after ecological complaint
The penultimate stage of the Vuelta is due to finish at the Bola del Mundo, but a group of ecologists has lodged a request with the country’s national parks organisation to truncate the stage in order to protect the area’s ecology
The final mountain-top finish of the Vuelta a España is under threat after a campaign group lodged a complaint with the Spanish national parks authority, Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales (OAPN).
Ecologistas en Acción Sierras de Madrid has written to the OAPN requesting that the stage finish be moved to protect endangered wildlife and the planned finish area, the Alto de Guarramillas, better known as La Bola del Mundo.
The finish is located at 2,251m above sea level and, according to the group, “belongs to zones A1 and A2, the most strictly protected areas of Guadarrama National Park.” They also note that the summit was declared a Site of Community Importance under the Natura 2000 Network, a series of protected areas set up by the European Union.
The request is not for the stage to be cancelled, but for the finish to be moved further down the mountain.
“It is important to emphasise that what Ecologistas en Acción are requesting is not the suspension of the stage, but rather the removal of the final three kilometres,” read a statement on the group’s website. “We ask that this stage does not end in the absurdity of climbing the Bola del Mundo. It could finish at the Puerto de Navacerrada Pass itself, as has happened so many times in the past, or in one of the mountain villages.”
At 1,854m, the Puerto de Navacerrada Pass has featured in the Vuelta on 34 occasions, but the Bola del Mundo, named after the antennae at its summit, has only been used twice, in 2010 and 2012. Since then, the area has been incorporated into the Parque Nacional de la Sierra de Guadarrama, which places restrictions on the activities permitted there.
When the climb first appeared in 2010, Vincenzo Nibali placed second on the stage, cementing the first of his four Grand Tour victories.
This year, the Bola del Mundo is set to provide the Vuelta’s final sting in the tail, with the ascent coming at the end of stage 20 from Robledo de Chavela. The 165.6km stage includes 4,226m of climbing and will be the last realistic opportunity to reshape the general classification.
