Vuelta a España - Stage 10

Flat individual time trial set to produce significant time gaps between specialists and pure climbers

Remco Evenepoel enjoyed his time trials in the red jersey during last year's Vuelta a España

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Updated: September 5, 2023

Following the trend in Grand Tours over the last decade, the only individual time trial in this year’s Vuelta a España is just a short test, stretching for 25.8km and offering a profile that should suit the pure specialists in the peloton. There is an uphill drag that extends for 3km and averages 7% for the last 500m, but other than that, the route is entirely pan-flat.

Beginning and ending in Valladolid, stage 10 will take the riders past El Estadio José Zorrilla, the home of Real Valladolid Football Club, and around some of the city’s suburbs such as Pinar de Anteuquera and Parquesol. From the bird’s eye perspective, this is a course without too many technical difficulties and with lots of wide, straight roads, thereby offering an advantage to those powerful TT specialists who like to roll a big gear.

It is, therefore, a stage where the pure climbers will hope to minimise their losses, the prime example being the race leader, Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma).

The US rider has a healthy lead but is expected to lose a chunk of it, with Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) lurking at 43 seconds. Third-placed Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ), who barely weighs 50kg, isn't expected to be a big threat, but then comes the tightly-packed cluster of main GC favourites around the 2:30 mark.

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) is the time trial world champion and Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) the Olympic champion, while Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) last month produced one of the greatest time trials ever seen at the Tour de France.

All three lead the way when it comes to picking a stage winner, while the gaps between the trio will mark a pivotal development in the overall complexion of this Vuelta.

As ever, the first stage after the rest day may produce some surprising results, depending on how well riders have been able to recover. Those who favoured a less-intense training ride during the rest day will have to be wary of taking a few kilometres to get back into the groove.

We’ll be showing live and on-demand coverage of all 21 stages of this year’s Vuelta a España from Saturday, August 26 to Sunday, September 17, plus daily expert analysis on The Breakaway. Head over to GCN+ now to check the start times of each broadcast so that you don’t miss out on a moment of the action! As always, territory restrictions will apply.