Vuelta a Burgos 2023 Favourites
Country: Spain
Level: Pro
Total Stages: 5
Mountain Stages: 2
Sprint Stages: 2
Team Time Trials: 1
Odds have just dropped. Stay tuned for some updates. Hot take is Will Barta is some value given that Mas isn't showing up and that Movistar may be riding for him. Or at least he can climb better than, say Oier Lazkano and it'll probably be won on those two mountain stages
Here's the top ten from last year. There won't be any López this year due to his UCI violation so expect some new names in the top three. Mas is making an appearance and we'd like to hope he'd clinch a spot.
Stage design is roughly the same as last year. The two major climbs on stage three and five respectively are Picos Blanco and Lagunas de Neila. If you take a look at the past event you can see how much of a difference doing well on both climbing days makes - especially for stage five.
MAL and Almeida were down forty two seconds on Sivakov prior to the final stage and situation 21st and 17th. But with a strong performance over their competitors on stage five they managed to jump roughly fifteen spots on GC. Sivakov was able to have another decent performance and held on to the large advantage he had gained on stage three.
Basically if you can climb well both climbing days and potentially make a strong attack on at least one of those days, you could be in for clinching the crown.
The advent of the team time trial is interesting, but the course is so short we don't expect it to play too much of a difference.
Stages
Stage 1
We're glad they threw a kicker in there 23k from the finish. If someone wanted to start their GC bid early they could use it as a launching pad.
Stage 2 (TTT)
A short and non technical team trial. We might be mistaken but we don't think too much will be made or lost here given the lengthier climbs further in the race.
Stage 3
Picón Blanco is 7.8km @ 9% and as we all know, some of that is above 9%. There are certain climbers who struggle above 6-7% so take that into account. There's only 20kms after cresting the summit.
Stage 4
Sprint run-in that's slighly uphill. Dare we say a Michael Matthews?
Stage 5
Lagunas de Naila day. We could see an attack on Alto del Cargadero to allow the attackers a few extra seconds heading into the final climb. Unsure it'll make a difference if you're not a superb climber. Maybe.