For the second day in a row, Vuelta route directors Paco Giner and Fernando Escartín put together a stage that is relatively straightforward for the most part but offers some complications towards the finish line. Vuelta boss Javier Guillén has said the intention is to provide terrain for thrilling action when the global TV audience is at its highest. The fast run east across the parched lands of southern Spain ends with the cat 3 climb of the San Jerónimo.
Coming of this climb in 2011, four Liquigas riders got into a five-man break, with Peter Sagan taking the win in Córdoba. On this occasion, though, the intriguingly named Alto del Catorce Por Ciento (The 14 Per Cent Pass) provides a final test before the city centre finish.
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Pim Ronhaar and Joris Nieuwenhuis were forced to settle for second and third, respectively, in Oisterwijk -
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Laurens Sweeck silver, Toon Aerts bronze on treacherously snowy, muddy course -
British Cyclocross National Championships: Xan Crees holds off Cat Ferguson to win elite women's title
Ferguson claims under-23 women's national title in Gravesend -
Dutch Cyclocross National Championships: Puck Pieterse solos to second title of career
Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado silver, Denise Betsema outpowers Marianne Vos for bronze
