Vuelta a Espana: The most important facts in brief
- Stage 15, Sunday, 1 September
- Infiesto - Cuitu Negru, 142.9 kilometres, mountain stage, 3545 vertical metres
- Official start: 13:51
- Estimated arrival time: ~ 17:20 - 17:42
- TV broadcast: 13:30 - 18:00 Eurosport 1
- Live stream: Discovery Plus (subject to a charge)
- All stages of the Vuelta a Espana 2024 at a glance
- The start list
Vuelta 2024: Stage 15 - route, elevation profile and map
The Vuelta a Espana 2024 remains mountainous, with the riders facing the steepest ramp of the tour up to Cuitu Negru before the second rest day. The 15th stage starts in Infiesto, a small municipality with around 2,500 inhabitants in Asturias, which is located around 50 kilometres east of Oviedo. The finish is in the ski resort of Valgrande Pajares on the Cuitu Negru on the border between Asturias and Castile and Leon.
There is no roll-in phase. From the start, the road climbs slightly, with short descents, before the first of two climbs to the Alto de la Colladiella (1st category) begins at kilometre 31.2. 6.4 kilometres with an average gradient of 8.2 per cent await the riders. In between, the peloton takes on the Alto de Santo Emiliano (3rd category) - 5.6 kilometres with an average gradient of 4.9 per cent.
After the second passage at the Alto de la Colladiella, the peloton leaves the circuit heading south. After the descent from Colladiella, 20 slightly ascending kilometres await until the start of the final climb. This is extremely unrhythmic - 18.9 kilometres with an average gradient of 7.4 per cent. The road to the finish was tarmaced especially for the only arrival of the Vuelta a Espana up there so far in 2012. The last three kilometres are brutally steep with an average gradient of around 13 per cent and ramps of up to 24 per cent.
Sporting assessment of the 15th stage
On the 16th stage in 2012, Dario Cataldo, a breakaway rider, came out on top at Cuitu Negru. Together with his companion Thomas De Gendt, the Italian went into the final climb with a lead of around eight minutes over the favourites, two and a half of which he brought to the finish. That could also be the rule of thumb for this year: a breakaway would need six to seven minutes to reach the finish ahead of the favourites. However, such leads for leading groups are rather unusual in modern cycling, which is why we expect a winner from among the contenders for the red jersey.
The top riders in the classification will have this day marked in bold in their calendars. It is probably the most difficult final climb of the Vuelta a Espana 2024, where the riders will struggle up the steep ramps to the finish at walking pace. In 2012, Alberto Contador tried to soften up his rival Joaquim Rodriguez here with numerous attacks, which he did not succeed in doing, at least on that day - Contador later won the stage race. A similar scenario is conceivable this year. Whoever has good legs will attack on the final climb. The fans along the route and in front of the screens can look forward to a great cycling spectacle.
Schedule, TV coverage & live stream of the 15th stage of the Vuelta a Espana 2024
The start takes place at 13:51, a neutral phase for rolling in is not planned. The finish is expected at 17:20 with an average speed of 41 km/h, 17:30 with an average speed of 39 km/h and 17:42 with an average speed of 37 km/h.
Eurosport will broadcast all stages of the Vuelta a Espana 2024. The 15th stage will be shown free-to-air on Eurosport 1 from 13:30.* Including post-event coverage, the broadcast will run until 18:00. A live stream on the internet is also available from the paid provider Discovery Plus.
* Transmission times are subject to change.
