August 29 post: This stage starts and finishes in two cities, Caravaca de la Cruz and Murcia, used in the last Vuelta a Murcia and last year's Vuelta a Espana. Murcia is the seventh largest city in Spain and is a frequent Vuelta a Espana host.

Stage 6 starts out easy, but the one categorized climb on this day, a cat 2, is close to the finish. The official race info is a little confusing as the timetable indicates the cat 2 climb crests 17 km from the finish, but the race write-up says it's 10 km from the top to the finish. It's also shorter and steeper than advertised.

In any case, the finish to this stage with the cat 2 climb was featured at the end of last year's stage 10 finish in Murcia and we know Sky's Simon Gerrans, riding for Cervelo last year, won a four man bunch sprint on that day.

The Murcia region is where last year's Vuelta winner, Alejandro Valverde, hails from. And despite currently serving a delayed 2-year doping suspension for getting caught up in the 2006 Operación Puerto scandal, there is suppose to be some sort of (informal) celebration. — Steve

Stage 6 climbs
Km 131 - Alto de la Cresta del Gallo - 5.1 km at 6.2% (7 km at 4.36% according to the official info) - Category 2
9 Big Photos from the same 2009 Stage 10 Gallo descent and Murcia finish — sirotti