Vuelta a España 2023

Stage 17 – Ribadesella/Ribeseya > Altu de L’Angliru (124.5km)

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Stage 16 Result

1st Jonas Vingegaard (16/1)

2nd Finn Fisher-Black (80/1)

3rd Wout Poels (16/1)

4th Michael Storer (18/1)

Stage 16 Bets

Wout Poels 2pts each way (4 places) @16/1 – 3rd

Jesús Herrada 1pt each way (4 places) @28/1

Mattia Cattaneo 1pt each way (4 places) @33/1

Oier Lazcano 1pt each way (4 places) @40/1

Sepp Kuss 1pt each way (4 places) @28/1

Just because you can win a stage, it doesn’t mean you necessarily should. However, calls of being too dominant and greedy will be quietened this time with Vingegaard dedicating the win to his friend and teammate, Nathan Van Hooydonck, who was in an induced coma following a car accident.

Cattaneo made the break and was joint favourite in-running until Jumbo-Visma decided to chase the win. Poels nicked third as the GC men dithered behind which was fortunate on a stage that didn’t play out as predicted.

Stage 17 Preview

Back in the mountains for the penultimate time and two first-category climbs that are tough enough on their own (7.8km at 7.1% and 5.4km at 9.2%) but act here as an appetizer before the main dish of the day – a summit finish on the mighty Altu de l’Angliru. The bare figures – 12.4km at 9.8% – don’t tell the whole story as the gradients are relatively shallow for the opening 5km. The final 7km, however, average over 13% with several sections above 20%.

A final like that should produce a winner from the GC group but given the race situation with teams seemingly unable to trouble Jumbo-Visma’s dominance and the men in yellow somewhat unnecessarily forcing the win on stage 16, a strong group may get enough rope to take the day.

Stage 17 Contenders

Remco Evenepoel (5/2; 3.50) has made it clear he’s going to target these stages and with plenty of time on GC, should be up the road again. Might he want the satisfaction of trying to win from the main GC group? Perhaps, and some may argue it’s unfair for him to even go in the break such is his likely climbing superiority. The relatively flat start is no hindrance to Evenepoel making the break but the price is also very short.

Jonas Vingegaard (11/4; 3.75) admitted he was struggling with gastro problems during the first week but is now fully recovered and the favourite now to win the Vuelta. He took advantage of the unusual race situation with another victory on stage 16 – would a third be too greedy?  

Primož Roglič (10/1; 11.00) can count himself unlucky that other teams haven’t been strong enough to chase down attacks by Vingegaard and Kuss, leaving the Slovenian to play defence until the very end of stages when the win was already gone. He could well be the strongest rider in the race but finds himself sitting third on GC. It may be Roglič who gets to attack first here, though he doesn’t want to go too early on the Angliru.  

Sepp Kuss (14/1; 15.00) showed the first signs of weakness at the end of stage 16, getting gapped when Roglič pushed the pace in the last kilometre. A bizarre situation with Roglič pulling rivals closer to Vingegaard and dropping his teammate in the red jersey. Kuss has done well on the steep slopes of the Angliru in the past and will be backing himself to stay in red.

Juan Ayuso (20/1; 21.00) seems to be the best of the rest but UAE Team Emirates appear resigned to defeat against the triple wasp attack. They’ll rightly be criticised for their tactics on stage 16, and we could get a reaction with a more committed display here. At least ride as if you can win, even if you probably know you can’t.

Wout Poels (16/1; 17.00) was the main pick on stage 16 and placed somewhat fortunately. The steep slopes are in his favour, he just needs to catch the break that gets clear. Bahrain-Victorious ended up with five riders in the top 16 on Tuesday’s stage and Damiano Caruso (80/1; 81.00), Santiago Buitrago (40/1; 41.00) and Antonio Tiberi (80/1; 81.00) are also interesting at better odds.

Michael Storer (18/1; 19.00) got up for fourth on stage 16 as the GC group hesitated and is looking on something similar to his form a couple of years ago when he landed two Vuelta stage wins and the mountains jersey. Storer would be a major player if up the road, especially if he concentrated on the stage win rather than points on top of the climbs.

Romain Bardet (33/1; 34.00) was unlucky on stage 16 – had the break stayed away, he’d have been the favourite to take the win. Bardet has been very active this Vuelta despite being sick for some of it and has showed his skill in following the right moves. He should be up there again, but will he find a few better?  

Hugh Carthy (33/1; 34.00) won on the Angliru in 2020 and has plenty of time on GC to be allowed up the road. He appeared to save his legs a bit on stage 16, no doubt for another pop at a repeat win here.

Another one that’s in the balance between GC and break, let’s have a few options either way.

Stage 17 Bets

Primož Roglič 2pts win @10/1

Wout Poels 2pts each way (3 places) @16/1

Michael Storer 2pts each way (3 places) @18/1

Santiago Buitrago 1pt each way (4 places) @40/1

Posted 21:55 BST Tue 12th Sept 2023

Prices to win the stage (in brackets) are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change - find the best prices available on the Vuelta a España at Oddschecker

[Vuelta a España stage profiles reproduced by kind permission of Ben Lowe at Veloviewer.com]

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