The riders don’t face a lot of climbing throughout the day but the final hour of racing will see quite a few hilltops where the pace will be high and difficult to follow. The fight for positioning into the final climb will be intense and on rolling roads.
The finale into the city castle is an iconic one in the race, averaging 900 meters at 5% but maximum gradients that are quite superior to that. We could see a sprint between puncheurs and the GC riders but a late attack can also succeed as it has in the past.
Stage 2: Cillereuelo de Abajo – Buniel, 161.6 kilometers
The second stage of the race is the one that suits the sprinters the best and it’s difficult to argue that we will not have a bunch sprint deciding the outcome of this stage. It will be a long day through northwestern Spain…
The stage starts in the town of Cilleruelo de Abajo and finishes in Buniel, with a few rolling hills along the way but a flat – even slightly downhill – finale that will be to the delight of the fast finishers.
Stage 3: Monasterio de San Pedro de Cardenña – Valpuesta, 184.8 kilometers
Stage 3 of the race is a day that is not easy to predict or control. The organizers have decided to put in a difficult mountain stage but with the climbs far from the finish, which could create some interesting race scenarios.
Leaving Monasterio de San Pedro de Cardeña the riders will find mostly flat roads but this will change in the final third of the stage. There will be three small but steep climbs inside the final 55 kilometers before the main ascent of the day which will contribute to the fatigue and potentially set the terrain for attacks.
The main climb will be that of Puerto de Orduña, 8.1 kilometers at 7.3% which finish with 22 kilometers to go. It’s a hard climb where differences can be made, but the issue is that after a small descent there are a lot of flat kilometers where the attacks may not stop. It should be a tactical finale, with a small uphill drag to the line in Valpuesta can also prove to be quite interesting.
Stage 4: Doña Santos – Regumiel de la Sierra, 162.7 kilometers
Stage 4 of the race is a hilly day and one that is hard to predict. The 162-kilometer long course from Doña Santos to Regumiel de la Sierra is potentially one for a breakaway as it should be hard to control and there won’t be ‘riders to beat’ on the day.
The start features plenty small climbs where the strong rouleurs and classics specialists can make the difference, and later on there will be a few explosive climbs to tackle before the finish.
This includes a 4-kilometer ascent at 5% that ends with just under 15Km to go and then a short uphill pitch of 1.5Km at 6.3% that ends with 10.8Km to go. After a small descent the last aproximately 5 kilometers are flat, where it is still possible to organize for a small peloton sprint if this is the scenario that a few teams work hard for.
Stage 5: Quintana del Pidio – Lagunas de Neila, 138.3 kilometers
The race finishes atop the Lagunas de Neila, a name that is attached to the race as much as any climb is with other races. The day is only 138 kilometers long and features a flat start so the riders will not take a long time before they reach their main obstacles.
Although this is by no means an easy day on the bike, and this year there is a significant difficulty before the summit finish. With only 22 kilometers to the finish the riders see the end of a 3.3-kilometer long ascent that averages almost 10%. It’s descent leads straight into the base of the final climb.
Lagunas de Neila is a climb that in total is around 11 kilometers long however only the final 6.4 are categorized. But these are very difficult, averaging over 9% and featuring some pretty rough ramps that every year make for large gaps. A day for the pure climbers and also the one where the overall classification is likely to be decided.
Prediction Vuelta a Burgos 2025 overall classification:
*** Isaac del Toro, Giulio Ciccone
** Egan Bernal, Giulio Pellizzari
* Mikel Landa, Lennard Kämna, Urko Berrade, Juan Pedro López, Mathys Rondel, Davide Piganzzoli, Damiano Caruso, Rainer Kepplinger, Damien Howson, Harold Martín López, Lorenzo Fortunato, Wout Poels, Jai Hindley, Igor Arrieta, Nairo Quintana, Javier Romo
Pick: Isaac del Toro
Original: Rúben Silva