Vuelta a Andalucía 2017 – Stage 5 Preview
By David Hunter
Setenil de las Bodegas – Coin 151.5km
Last stage and another one for the sprinters.
Like stage 4, the hardest part of the race is the opening half. That section of the day covers two categorised climbs, but there are plenty of other bumps along the way. The opening climbing is 6.5km at 4%, that is followed by 6.8km at 4%. Nothing that will worry Valverde.
Finale
We have a cat 3 climb with 16km remaining, but it’s only 4.5km at 3%, very disappointing!
An easy finish, just as well after all the corners today!
Weather
A bit of a headwind for the whole day and some rain. After lovely weather for the week, it looks like a wet day for the bunch. Poor conditions would increase the hopes for the breakaway riders.
Contenders
Bryan Coquard – his win today looked quite easy. Direct Energie did a good job of controlling the peloton and delivered their star man into a good position. Despite a nervous couple of moments, he sealed the win without too much fuss. He starts this stage as the massive favourite. Loves an uphill sprint.
Moreno Hofland – 4th place was not the result he would have hoped for. The uphill sprint is more to his liking and he’ll be determined to finish on the podium. As he now rides for Lotto Soudal, there won’t be many opportunities for him to sprint in races, he really needs to take them.
Daniel Hoelgaard – the young Norwegian was great today. He spent the whole of 2016 riding in support of other riders, but has his own chance to shine here. He did everything as well as he could of, Coquard was just faster than him. He’ll be pleased with another chance in this stage.
Eduard Prades – 10th today was a good effort and he’ll like this finish a lot more. I have a soft spot for this rider and would love to see him make the top 5.
Breakaway Chances
It all depends on the size of the break and the attitude of the bunch. If the big teams can control the start and ensure a small break gets away, it will be easy to control. However, if it is raining at the start, we could see a large group go clear. If that happens, they won’t come back.
Prediction Time
A boring pick, but I’ll go with Bryan Coquard.
David Hunter
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