While the Cantabrian coast itself might be flat, the terrain is hillier and even mountainous
further to the south, where the riders head to today upon leaving Laredo. They will encounter\u00a0the first climb 33km into the stage when they begin the Puerto de Alisas, a category two\u00a0effort that goes on for 8.6km, albeit at a manageable gradient averaging 5.8%. After that the\u00a0terrain does flatten more as they ride through valley roads, with only the occasional\u00a0undulation in the road, before eventually arriving at the key moment of the stage: Collada de\u00a0Brenes.<\/p>\n
This mountain certainly appears hard enough to break up the race, as though only 7km long, its 7.9% average gradient earns it the category one label. At the 2022 Vuelta it\u00a0proved too much for the red jersey of Rudy Molard, who was dropped out of the peloton\u00a0nearing the top, despite it being the penultimate climb of that stage. But is it too far from the\u00a0finish to draw the GC contenders into a committed fight today? It\u2019s crested 22km from the\u00a0finish, so anyone who does feel like an attack will have to fancy themselves on the fast,\u00a011km descent that follows it, and also be wary of the way the road levels out for the final\u00a011km after that. While that may encourage some to be bold, others won\u2019t feel it\u2019s worth the\u00a0risk and the stress, especially with the monstrous mountain stages to come. There might be\u00a0more risks taken in the day\u2019s break, in the likely event that they survive to the finish to\u00a0contest the win, as their goal is more short-term geared only towards winning the stage today rather than the slow burn of the GC race.<\/p>\n
Contenders<\/p>\n The bonus seconds and the category one might mean that the stage is controlled for the likes of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma Lease a Bike), Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Procycling Team), Jo\u00e3o Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma).<\/p>\n However, it is more likely that the breakaway will win the stage. Look out for the likes of Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek), who was impressive on stage 10. The Frenchman could be allowed to go in the break again on stage 12. Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo (Movistar Team), who have been active in the race so far and will be eyeing this stage as one they could win, especially with the following stages in Asturias, featuring the Angliru and the Farrapona, which will likely be fought out amoungst the overall contenders.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Untitled_design_-_2025-08-28T113021.304.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n