Favorites stage 18 Vuelta a España 2024 | Before challenging final weekend through the Basque Country!

The riders continue their journey through northern Spain with a stage through the Valhalla of cycling: the Basque Country! With start in Vitoria-Gasteiz, the present riders from the cycling-mad region, the team Euskaltel-Euskadi and all the fans from the region will be willing to make something beautiful out of it on Thursday. So expect an orange rain at the start!

Knowing that there will be challenging mountain stages on Friday and Saturday and that the Vuelta will end on Sunday with an individual time trial, you can fill in that this will be the last chance for stage success for many riders. So expect a battle from the start, which the course also lends itself to. Apart from some tricky climbs, there are no challenging mountains in the first half of the stage, so many riders can take their chances.

After about seventy kilometers, the second category, Alto de Rivas del Tesero (11.1 km at 3.4%), looms up, but these gradients do not immediately cause fear. The Puerto Herrera, which starts 50 kilometers from the finish, seems to pose more danger in that respect: this climb is one of the first categories, 5.6 kilometers long, at 8.3 percent average.

We don't descend very far, so the last forty kilometers are mostly on rolling, treacherous roads. At 5.5 kilometers from the finish, we complete another hill of 2.3 kilometers at 5.1 percent before quickly descending to the finish line in the Mueztu National Park. We will probably finish this descent at high speed because it is not very technical. The last kilometer is then flat.

Climbs
81.5 km: Alto de Rivas del Tesero (11.1 km a 3.4%)
134.3 km: Puerto Herrera (5.6 km a 8.3%)

Timetable
Start: 1:05 p.m.
Finish: 5:19 p.m.

Northern Spain has been a bit more unpredictable for several days now, and that will also be the case on Thursday. The temperature will be around 18 degrees Celsius, with a slight chance of rain and a breeze from the northeast.

We have already seen so many breakaway stages in this Vuelta a Espana, so we can now fill in the names for such stages. Thursday's day looks a lot like a classic transition stage, in which the borders must be able to handle the flat and punchy slopes in addition to a good climber's legs.

Among the men we still have in that genre in this Vuelta are Jhonatan Narváez (INEOS Grenadiers), Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck), and Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla): fast guys who can cling on to the Puerto Herrera and finish it excellently in the Ardennes-like finale. To a slightly lesser extent, we also place Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) and Attila Valter (Visma | Lese a Bike) in that category.

For a sprinter such as Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and/or Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech), it usually seems too harsh for us, but it is possible that they can get something out of the early break. The same goes for fast rider types like Victor Campenaerts(Lotto-Dstny), Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), and Stefan Küng of Groupama-FDJ, although they also have a chance on Sunday in the final time trial.

The other category is the climbers, who may take advantage of the Puerto Herrera. In that regard, Max Poole (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Pablo Castrillo (Equipo Kern Pharma), and Marc Soler (UAE-Team Emirates) we have already seen numerous times in this round, but Isaac del Toro and Brandon McNulty of Soler's team can also try it that way.

What about the Basques? If the GC riders want to set it on fire before a challenging weekend, it will have to come from Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Oier Lazkano (Movistar), or Mikel Landa (T-Rex Quick-Step).  

Top favorites:Jhonatan Narváez (INEOS Grenadiers) and Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla)
Outsiders: Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), Max Poole (dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Marc Soler (UAE-Team Emirates)
Long shots: Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Attila Valter (Visma | Lease a Bike), Brandon McNulty (UAE-Team Emirates), Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny), Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Pablo Castrillo (Equipo Kern Pharma), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) and Oier Lazkano (Movistar)