The 75th Vuelta a España is almost over, but not before the riders have finished in the capital Madrid. The peloton will thunder to a finish line for the last time on Sunday to crown a (stage and final) winner there. Who will be victorious in the final road race of 2020? Cycling Flash previews the race route and the favorites for the overall victory!
Route
One more stage in and around Madrid and the 75th Vuelta a España is definitely a thing of the past. And we put an end to a strange cycling season that was completely controlled by the corona virus. The riders pinned their numbers one more time for a stage of just under 140 kilometers on the flat back roads of Madrid, a stage that will probably end in a mass sprint.
The drivers gather at the Hipódromo de La Zarzuela, a horse racing track in the outskirts of Madrid. The circuit was created in 1935 and has been considered a national heritage site since 2009. It is a place where horses normally play the leading role, but on Sunday the riders will be released for a parade stage to the capital of Spain, Madrid.
The remaining riders then head west to ride past Spanish villages and municipalities. The Tour of Spain, for example, just does not pass through the cucumber city of Leganés and Getafe, and then the football fans know what we are talking about. There is little chance that supporters of Ajax will visit Getafe again in the future, as the local La Liga club was able to thrust Ajax out of the Europa League in a heavy-handed manner last season.
After a passage along Fuenlabrada and Getafe, a suburb of Madrid, it goes in a stretched trot to the finish in Madrid itself. In the first kilometers of the stage there is still time for drinking cava, taking photos and congratulating the overall winner, but the nervousness will increase as soon as Madrid comes into view. First by the team of the future winner and later by the sprinter teams, who still get a chance for a stage win.
Once in the center, the riders will ride the now well-known local round of 5.9 kilometers through the capital and metropolis of Madrid. When the peloton crosses the finish for the first time, they start the last five laps. The riders will race through the heart of Madrid. In recent years, the famous boulevard Paseo del Prado – with the art museum Prado in the background – and the Plaza de Colón (Columbus square) have been visited.
The arrival line is located on the Plaza de Cibeles, with its signature fountain with marble statues. The finish is not around 8 p.m. this time, but neatly around 5 p.m. It is the umpteenth time in history that the Tour of Spain finishes in Madrid. In the past, big names such as Fons De Wolf, Sean Kelly, Mathieu Hermans, Jean-Paul van Poppel, Djamolidine Abduzhaparov and Laurent Jalabert were victorious.
Last year, victory at the Plaza de Cibeles went to Fabio Jakobsen. The Deceuninck-Quick-Step rider then defeated as Dutch champion Sam Bennett (who now also plays for the Belgian star formation) and Szymon Sajnok.
Alessandro Petacchi won seventeen years ago in Madrid – photo: Cor Vos
date: Sunday, November 8
Start: 1:29 pm at the Zarzuela Racecourse
Start TV broadcast: 2.50 pm
Finish: between 17.03 and 5.28 pm 
Madrid
Favorites
The sprinters have had to drag themselves over a lot of mountains in recent weeks, but on Sunday the ultimate reward will follow with a last sprint opportunity in the center of Madrid. There are few sprinters left after seventeen stages, so it is a bit of a search for real contenders.
Sam Bennett – photo: Cor Vos
Matteo Moschetti, Jakub Mareczko and Gerben Thijssen already had to give up in this Tour of Spain, but Sam Bennett will arrive in Madrid without accidents. The Irishman can call himself the fastest man in this Vuelta, even though he won ‘only’ one stage on behalf of Deceuninck-Quick-Step. In Ejea de los Caballeros it was hit after a fabulous acceleration in the last hundreds of meters, as a result of which he managed to outsmart Jasper Philipsen.
He was also the first to cross the line in Aguilar de Campoo, but afterwards he was downgraded by the jury after he crossed the line in the final and rather roughly put Emīls Liepiš in his place. Since then, Bennett hasn’t gotten around to sprinting, but a final bunch sprint has been written in the stars in Madrid. If Bennett doesn’t get around to sprinting, his teammate can Michael Mørkøv do the honors.
Bennett will have to compete against a former teammate on Sunday. Pascal Ackermann was still not the first to cross the finish line in this Vuelta, but he does have a stage victory (after Bennett’s declassification in stage nine). Ackermann was already fairly close to a victory in Puebla de Sanabria (second behind Philipsen) and Ejea de los Caballeros.
Pascal Ackermann – photo: Cor Vos
The BORA-hansgrohe sprinter will leave the Tour of Spain with a stage victory anyway, but would still like to win again under his own steam. Only then will Ackermann really be able to speak of a successful Vuelta. Another contender for the stage victory is driving for UAE Emirates and is called Jasper Philipsen. The young Belgian was very happy in Puebla de Sanabria, after his first stage victory in a grand tour. “They will not take this victory away from me!”
Philipsen will undoubtedly have a taste for it and will mingle again in Madrid in the hope of winning a second stage. The flat finish line on the Plaza de Cibeles may not be a dream finish for a power sprinter like Philipsen, but there are few top sprinters left in this Vuelta and the Fleming is also one of the fastest riders in this peloton on paper. Will he deliver his team a second farewell gift?
Bennett, Ackermann and Philipsen are the big favorites for the victory in Madrid, but it may be possible Max Kanter surprise on behalf of Team Sunweb. The 23-year-old German already finished seventh in Ejea de los Caballeros and third in Aguilar de Campoo. Magnus Cort already won in Madrid and was the best in Ciudad Rodrigo last Friday. Jon Aberasturi is also a dangerous customer on behalf of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA.
Jasper Philipsen – photo: Cor Vos
We have pretty much discussed the main contenders for the stage victory, but perhaps we can Lorrenzo Manzin (Total Direct Energy), Mihkel Raïm (Israel Start-Up Nation) en Robert Stannard (Mitchelton-Scott) do surprise. These riders already knew how to mix this Vuelta in the sprint violence, but do not have the intrinsic speed to actually finish it.
Also note Dion Smith on behalf of Mitchelton-Scott, Dorian Godon in the AG2R La Mondiale outfit, Emmanuel Morin for Cofidis, NTT’s trump card Reinardt Janse van Rensburg and Trek-Segafredo pawn Emīls Liepiņš. These guys are not fast enough to take a shot at the stage victory, but they can certainly qualify and get a top 10 finish.
Favorites according to WielerFlits
**** Sam Bennett
*** Jasper Philipsen, Pascal Ackermann
** Max Kanter, Magnus Cort, Jon Aberasturi
* Lorrenzo Manzin, Mihkel Räim, Robert Stannard, Michael Mørkøv
Vuelta 2020: List of participants
Weather and TV
The last stage of the Vuelta a España 2020 will be held in dry conditions. The average temperature will fluctuate around fifteen degrees Celsius on Sunday afternoon. The wind blows lightly to moderate and will not play a significant role.
Sporza (on One) and Eurosport are also back live on the final day of the 75th Vuelta. The TV broadcast starts in Belgium at 2:50 pm.
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