Stage 18 of La Vuelta is 179 kilometres and starts in Pola de Allande ending in La Cruz de Linares on a 1st category climb. This is the last stage where there are big mountain points up for grabs and Remco Evenepoel will be looking to wrap up the King of the Mountains Jersey.
STAGE 17 WRAP
Jumbo-Visma continued their dominance of the Vuelta a España with a 1, 2, 3 in Stage 17. Primoz Roglic eventually got the win with Jonas Vingegaard on his wheel. Sepp Kuss finished 19 seconds back, but retains the Red Jersey by just 8 seconds from Vingegaard, Roglic is a further minute behind and their closest challenger for a podium spot is Juan Ayuso, 4 minutes behind Sepp Kuss.
JERSEY UPDATE
Sepp Kuss is one again favourite to win the Red Jersey at 7/10 with Vingegaard priced at 13/10 and Roglic at 11/1. Evenepoel and Groves are basically unbackable favourites for the Mountains and Points classifications and Jumbo-Visma appear to have wrapped up the Team Classification.
THE ROUTE
There is quite an easy start to Stage 18, but the road starts to tilt upwards around the 30 kilometre mark and we have a Cat 2 climb that peaks at 48.8 kilometres. After that descent the riders continue to climb before hitting the Cat 1 which is 9.9 kilometres at an average of 8.6%. Then another Cat 3 climb before they tackle the Cat 1 Puerto de La Cruz for the 1st time. It is 8.3 kilometres at 8.6% a 25km circuit follows with the Puerto de La Cruz done for the 2nd time to end the stage.
Jumbo-Visma have all the cards and much depends on how they choose to race this stage, but the breakaway will surely stand a good chance.
BETTING – Click here to bet
Remco Evenepoel 7/2
Wout Poels 6/1
Primoz Roglic 9/1
Jonas Vingegaard 11/1
Romain Bardet 11/1
Michael Storer 12/1
Santiago Buitrago 14/1
20/1 and better the balance
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PREDICTION
I don’t really think that Vingegaard and Roglic have been riding to take the jersey away from Kuss although it is possible that it could happen particularly if someone like Ayuso could find some form and attack on the final climb. I am actually expecting Jumbo-Visma to ride this stage defensively with the aim of keeping Sepp Kuss in Red rather than a stage win for Vingegaard or Roglic. This opens it up for the breakaway where Remco Evenepoel is surely a worthy favourite, but I am going to go for two men who impressed me with their legs yesterday and I believe have the ability to trouble Evenepoel if they are in the break with him.
Suggested Bets: Romain Bardet at 11/1 and Santiago Buitrago at 14/1
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
