La Vuelta 2023, Stage 2 (Mataró - Barcelona), course, route, profile, animation

“Sunday, 27 August The 2nd stage of the Vuelta is more than 180 kilometres long and not for pure sprinters. It goes up Montjuïc for the finale. On the last 4 kilometres, it first goes uphill at 900 metres with 9.4 % and then on the last kilometre with about 4 %. Almost from the start, the route goes up the Coll de Sant Bartomeu, a 6.6 kilometre climb with an average gradient of 4.5 %. After a short descent halfway up, the most difficult part of the climb follows with a gradient of almost 7%. The second climb, the Coll d’Estenalles, comes after 53 kilometres. Here, too, it is by no means a monster climb. Over 12.1 kilometres, the road climbs an average of 3.9%. The rest of the route is not entirely flat, but once the riders have passed the Coll d’Estenalles, bigger obstacles only await in the finale. And that comes more than 100 kilometres later. The riders approach Barcelona via Molins de Rei in the Llobregat valley. They cross L’Hospitalet de Llobregat and the finale actually starts at the place where the team time trial ended on the first day, the Avenida de la Reina Maria Cristina. A little later, after 2.5 kilometres, the road climbs to Montjuïc Castle. The average gradient is 4.5%, while the last 900 metres climb at 9.4%, including the steepest section at 19%. At breakneck speed, the riders race towards the Flamme Rouge, after which the last kilometre climbs at 4%. The finale is an exact copy of the one in 2012, when the Vuelta was last held in Barcelona. Back then, Philippe Gilbert won in a sprint ahead of Joaquim Rodríguez. The rest of the peloton finished about 10 seconds later.“ ( & Routes ’n’ Maps ’n’ Flags) Creating cycling stage animations requires a lot of work and computing power. You are welcome to support me with a donation: