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« Stage 19Return to Vuelta a España 2012 Live DashboardStage 21 »
Stage 20 Preview
and Results

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Stage 20: La Faisanera Golf. Segovia 21 → Bola del Mundo
Date: Saturday, September 8
Distance: 171 km
Categorized Climbs for Stage 20:

Km / To Go Climb Length Grade Max Cat Google Earth Streetview
39.1 / 132Puerto de Navafría10.1 km5.6 %n/a1
72.8 / 98Puerto de Canencia9.8 km3.9 %n/a2
90 / 81Puerto de la Morcuera9.2 km6.9 %9.5 %1
120.8 / 50Puerto de Cotos13.8 km4.9 %7 %1
170.7 / 0Bola del Mundo11.4 km8.6 %23 %HC


View Stage 20 in Google Earth (kml file) or Export the Stage 20 GPX file

Stage 20 start time: Saturday 12:30 CEST (10:30:00 AM GMT+0000); Weather for La Faisanera Golf. Segovia 21, Spain
Earliest live video: 15:15 CEST (1:15:00 PM GMT+0000); Live/delayed coverage options
Approximate finish: 17:55 CEST (3:55:00 PM GMT+0000); Weather for Bola del Mundo, Spain

This stage preview is available in the following languages:

(We are looking for translations in ALL other languages. Please submit your translation with the stage no. and language in the subject title. If you don't see your preview posted within 12 hours then please resend your preview as an attachment if you didn't already do so because we've had problems with some inline character sets like German.)

Stage 20 preview: La Faisanera Golf. Segovia 21 → Bola del Mundo, 171 km (Mountain)


La Bola del Mundo (viewed here from Navacerrada) is a very steep, narrow climb to a telecommunications tower (left) that will be the finale to this year's GC battle. (photo: wikipedia)

September 7 update: Just like 2010, the finale of the Vuelta a Espana ends on the steep slopes of La Bola del Mundo (profile) where Ezequiele Mosquera was the first winner and Vincenzo Nibali emerged as the overall leader.

This year's stage 20 starts in Segovia and crosses four major climbs northwest of Madrid before the summit finish on the Bola del Mundo (11.4 km @ 8.6 %, max 23 %).

The last three km of the Bola del Mundo ("Ball of the World") average 12.5% on a narrow concrete road that kicks up to 23% that isn't open to the general public. Expect Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) to make a winning move on this section, but he likely has too time to make up on GC to also pull off the overall win. Of course, race leader Alberto Contador is also good on these sort of finishes and he's almost 2½ minutes up on Rodriguez. — Steve

General Classification after Stage 19
1  CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK)   77:21:49
2  VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR)               +  1:35
3  RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA)                   +  2:21
4  FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING)                  +  9:48
5  MORENO FERNANDEZ, Daniel (KATUSHA)                    + 11:29
6  GESINK, Robert (RABOBANK)                             + 12:00
7  TEN DAM, Laurens (RABOBANK)                           + 12:58
8  TALANSKY, Andrew (GARMIN-SHARP)                       + 13:09
9  ANTON HERNANDEZ, Igor (EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI)           + 13:52

Bola del Mundo recon from 2010 (01:16 spanish) — rtve.es
20 Big Photos from Bola del Mundo Summit Finish in 2010 — sirotti + reuters
Showdown on the Bola del Mundo — cyclingnews