Stage 17 of La Vuelta a España is only 124.5 kilometres, but is an absolute brute of a mountain stage starting in Ribadesella and ending up the legendary Altu de L’Angliru. We take look at the stage and suggest a couple of bets.
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STAGE 16 WRAP
As expected there was a massive battle to get into the break on Stage 16. Because it took so long Jumbo-Visma were able to come forward and control the stage with relative ease eventually allowing Jonas Vingegaard to get the victory, 43 seconds clear of Finn Fisher-Black with Wout Poels completing the podium. Vingegaard put 1 minute 1 second into Roglic and 1 minute 5 seconds into Red Jersey Sepp Kuss.
JERSEY UPDATE
Kuss remains the leader, but by only 29 seconds from Vingegaard with Roglic now 1.33 back. Vingegaard is now the clear favourite for the Red Jersey at 8/15 with Kuss priced at 19/10 and Roglic at 7/1.
Remco Evenepoel heads the King of the Mountains standings and will no doubt be in the attack group on Wednesday after losing 14 minutes on Stage 16. He is short priced to win the King of the Mountains while Kaden Groves, who is looking in excellent form is heavily odds on to win the Green Jersey.
Jumbo-Visma appear to have a vice like lock on the Team Competition, not surprisingly given they have the podium covered at this point.
Click here for betting on all of the Jerseys
THE ROUTE
Stage 17 starts off fairly flat and gradually starts to rise until you hit the first Cat 1 climb of the day a 7.8 kilometre mountain at an average of 7.1%. There is then a descent and a short valley to cross before the second Cat 1 of the day which is only 5.4 kilometres, but at an average gradient of 9.2%. There is then a descent before the final climb the Altu de L’Angliru, 12.4 kilometres long at 9.8% with gradient not dipping below an average of 11% in the last 6 kilometres. It is in short an absolute brute and time gaps on this stage are going to be massive.
BETTING – Click here to bet
Remco Evenepoel 9/4
Jonas Vingegaard 9/4
Sepp Kuss 9/1
Primoz Roglic 9/1
Wout Poels 14/1
Michael Storer 16/1
Juan Ayuso 16/1
28/1 and better the balance
PREDICTION
We are in for an exciting race as there is no doubt that Remco Evenepoel is going to look to get into the break to chase King of the Mountain’s points. At the same time Jumbo-Visma are probably eyeing up a stage win here and they will know that letting Evenepoel get too far ahead could ruin their chances. It may well be that they try and prevent Evenepoel getting into the break and a possibility of another strong break without Evenepoel is certainly there especially if Jumbo-Visma revert to more defensive tactics which is also quite likely.
I expect Evenepoel will make the break and I think the break could stay clear especially if things get tactical for the major contenders on the final climb.
The 9/4 Evenepoel is tempting given the money back for 2nd promo but I am going to back a couple of riders I expect in the break and may just be able to beat him.
Suggested Bet: Bardet win at 28/1 – has looked strong if not at his best
Suggested Bet: Hirt at 66/1 – should be in break to help Evenepoel and can capitalize if his captain has an off day
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
