The official layout of the Spain’s Vuelta 2023 has already come out and there has been a surprise. This year, in a stage that begins in Utiel and ends in Oliva, it passes through the valley of happiness of Sot de Chera to end at the bridge over the Turia river, the ascent to the hermitage and from there I don’t know if they will continue to the town or They will continue along the general until Pedralba. Without a doubt, we will know the details. Due to the mountainous layout, I dare say that they will not pass through the town nor will we see them at the top. It looks more like the climb towards Vanacloig.
Next September 1 we have an appointment with cycling in Chulilla
Analyzing the image further, it can be seen that the climb to the mountain pass is much tougher from the Chulilla side than from the Sot de Chera side. It will undoubtedly be beautiful to see them pass through the bridge of the spa and the hermitage. There will surely also be people at the Benisierra narrow pass and, of course, at the top of the Puerto de las Muelas.
It’s curious that in most descriptions of the route of the Vuelta, this stage is described as flat when it passes through one of the places in the Iberian mountain ranges. It’s true that once they leave Chulilla, the terrain is flat, but until that point, it’s quite mountainous. However, it would be hard to do it the other way around.
Another issue with this stage is that there is a certain possibility of crosswinds towards the end. Crosswinds occur when there is a lateral wind affecting the peloton. If they run parallel to the coast at the end, it’s very common for the sea breeze to blow strongly and those dreaded cuts to appear in the cycling peloton.