Vuelta a España - Stage 9

Updated: September 2, 2023

Stage 9 will bring another set of mountains for the peloton to conquer, but the final day before the rest day is not as tough a test as the previous day and unlike stage 8, looks certain to benefit the breakaway. Just one category 1 climb, Puerto Casas de la Marina la Perdiz (11.5km at 4.9%), stands between the riders and the final climb of the Alto Caravaca de la Cruz.

Averaging 5.5% for 8.2km, the Alto Caravaca de la Cruz is not the toughest climb of the race, but will still likely cause a sorting of the best climbers in the peloton before the summit finish. Given the first rest day will come after stage 9, it should encourage more riders to be aggressive and extend themselves physically, knowing that they will not have to back up the performance on Monday.

After leaving the Mediterranean Coast at the beginning of the stage, the road will start trending upwards after a little over an hour’s racing, but it is likely on the Puerto Casas de la Marina la Perdiz that the formation of the breakaway will be formalised. Once they pass its summit and the KoM points are swept up, the front of the race will have well over 100km to build their gap to the peloton and tee up a showdown on the final climb to decide the day’s winner.

For the GC contenders, though, whilst the stage win may not be up for grabs, plenty can still be won or lost on the mountains of Murcia. On paper, the category 2 climb to end the stage may not appear the most daunting task, but it has an irregular profile that hides the maximum ramps of 16.6%, whilst the last 1.2km will see the average gradient rise to 8.3%.

Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) holds the red jersey following another impressive performance on stage 8, and should be reasonably confident of taking the race lead into the rest day. With a 43-second buffer over Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) and a minute gap to Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) in third, it is unlikely that either of these teams will go all-out in an attempt to dethrone Kuss from the top of the standings.

However, all of the GC favourites will have to stay alert well in advance of the final climb, because there is the chance for echelons should the forecasted wind arrive. With the peloton venturing north for the majority of the day, a westerly wind is scheduled to blow at gusts up to 30km/h. In such crosswinds, there is the potential for the race to descend into carnage before live pictures even emerge.

Whether it be the chance for echelons, the potential for a breakaway victory or the last skirmish between the GC riders ahead of the rest day, stage 9 should be an exciting watch.

Climbs:

• km 60.2 - Puerto Casas de la Marina la Perdiz, 11.5km at 4.9% (cat 1)
• km 184.6 - Alto Caravaca de la Cruz, 8.2km at 5.5% (cat 2)

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.

Major Races

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Date	Event	Class
29 Jun - 21 Jul	Tour de France	2.UWT
12 Aug - 18 Aug	Tour de France Femmes	2.WWT
4 May - 26 May	Giro d'Italia	2.UWT
28 Apr - 5 May	Vuelta España Femenina	2.WWT

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