From the 5th to the 9th of August we have on the road what is potentially the single most important preparation race ahead of the Vuelta a España. The Vuelta a Burgos takes the riders through the hilly and mountainous terrain necessary to prepare for the final Grand Tour of the season whilst also helping the riders adapting to the weather conditions. We preview stage 3.
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 3: Monasterio de San Pedro de Cardenña – Valpuesta, 184.8 kilometers
Prediction Vuelta a Burgos 2025 stage 3:
*** Isaac del Toro, Giulio Pellizzari
** Giulio Ciccone, Egan Bernal, Roger Adrià
* Lorenzo Fortunato, Harold Martín López, Mikel Landa, Damiano Caruso, Jai Hindley, Davide Piganzoli, Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda, Carlos Verona, Javier Romo, Afonso Eulálio, Léo Bisiaux, Damien Howson
Pick: Isaac del Toro
How: Ordinarily Ciccone would be just as much of a favourite as Del Toro but he seemed to suffer some more consequences. But the flat finale makes it tactical and a lot can be down to luck and tactics, not the legs. I think this may end in a small group sprint.
Original: Rúben Silva