Stage 3: Santo Domingo de Silos–Espinosa de los Monteros (Picón Blanco)

A savage summit

Still in the Burgos region with its typical strong winds, this long stage 3 will already be challenging before reaching the savage finishing climb to Picón Blanco. This demanding ascent (7.6 kilometers at 9.3 percent, with 17-percent pitches) to an abandoned military post has been used in the five-day Tour of Burgos, including last year, when Belgian phenom Remco Evenepoel was first to the 1,485-meter (4,900-foot) summit. He’s not starting this Vuelta, but others in the top dozen of that 2020 stage are potential GC contenders, including Mikel Landa, Richard Carapaz, Simon Yates, Fabio Aru and Ben Hermans—who can use their knowledge of the climb to challenge the likes of Roglič, Pidcock, Adam Yates, Egan Bernal, Romain Bardet, Sepp Kuss, Miguel Ángel López, and Giulio Ciccone. This is the defining stage of opening week and is likely to create the hierarchy for the rest of the Vuelta.