“Do you know what? It’s rude. It’s obscene. And riders have complained that it’s so horrible that it shouldn’t have a place in sport.”
Matt Stephens did not hold back on TNT Sports as he teed up Friday’s daunting showdown on one of cycling’s most feared ascents: the Alto de L’Angliru.Stage 13 of La Vuelta already promises punishment, with two Category 1 climbs softening the legs before the real torment begins. The Angliru rises for 12.5km at an average of 10.2% – data that barely scratches the surface of its cruelty.
The first 5km hover around 8%, before a brief reprieve of flat road, but the final section is pure pain: an average of 15% with ramps like the notorious Cuena les Cabres goat path, where gradients spike to 23%.
It was on these slopes two years ago that Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard controversially distanced their own team-mate Sepp Kuss, forcing the American into an unusual fight to keep red.
Stage 13 at La Vuelta
Image credit: From Official Website
Visma-Lease a Bike’s Vingegaard leads the race this time, but with just 2’44” covering the top 10, the Angliru could flip everything.
While he will not admit to fond memories of the Angliru, given its savage profile, it was where Vingegaard emerged as an elite climber when he supported Roglic as a rookie.
“It’s a love-hate relationship,” he told TNT Sports after Stage 12 on Thursday.
“I guess it’s where I showed myself for the first time. But it’s still such a brutal climb that there’s nowhere to hide. It’s so steep that you don’t draft at all, only the strongest rider is going to win.”
Meanwhile, Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) boiled it down to two words: “Steep. Hard.”
Former pros Stephens and Adam Blythe, speaking in The Breakaway studio, struggled to hide their disgust for the climb.
“It makes me sick. I get PTSD just looking at it,” said Blythe.
“I can’t put it into words how steep it is. There’s no let up. If you back off the pedals, you’re going to stop dead in the road.
“One of the big problems tomorrow will be the camera motorbikes – because the speeds are so slow, it’s difficult to hold it upright. That gives a good indication.
“It’s just you against your head, and your head against your legs. And that’s it.”
Stephens added: “It’s a mythical climb. Having team-mates around you is nice, but they can’t provide any physical help at all. It’s you against gravity.
“Because of its length and gradient, just riding up that mountain puts you nearly into the red. It’s so easy to get it wrong in terms of pacing. You can lose a lot of time. It’s absolutely horrific.
“The concentration on just maintaining forward momentum is hard enough, let alone racing up it. I hope we’re selling it enough.”
For Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), it could be a career-defining test.
The Brit sits third overall, just 56 seconds behind leader Vingegaard and six seconds shy of Joao Almeida (UAE). Survive the Angliru and his credentials as a GC rider might finally be undeniable.