A quiet start, an explosive finale
The first seventy kilometres are flat, but then come three climbs in a row on the way to the uphill finish at Peñas Blancas, above Estepona. Exactly the kind of stage where you can lose the Vuelta but not win it.
Nerves before the queen stage
With the Vuelta's toughest mountain stage on the schedule the very next day, the favourites will try to save energy here without getting caught out by a cunning attack.