Favorites stage 6 Vuelta a España 2025 | A monster ride toward a microstate

Thursday’s sixth stage starts in Olot, not far from Girona. There’s no easing into the day: the stage begins immediately with a climb. The Collada de Sentigosa is 11.4 kilometers long with an average gradient of 4.1 percent.

After a descent and a short valley section, the peloton heads toward the next climb, which is of the same nature. The Collada de Toses is a long one, 24.3 kilometers long to be specific, but with a mild average gradient of just 3.5 percent, it won’t scare many.

Next comes a 60-kilometer descent, followed by a dash toward the Spanish-Andorran border. At 35 kilometers from the finish, riders hit the base of the next obstacle: the Alto de la Comella. At just 4.2 kilometers long, it’s the shortest climb of the day, but with an average gradient of 8 percent, it’s also the steepest.

There’s little time to recover after that. The final climb up to Pal begins just five kilometers later, from La Massana. This ascent is 9.6 kilometers long at an average gradient of 6.3 percent, with two steep kilometers at the start and some steeper sections (relatively speaking) near the summit.

The last time a race finished here was the Tour of Catalonia in 2011, where Alberto Contador took the win. The Vuelta last finished here in 2010, with Igor Antón emerging victorious. Given how many pro cyclists live in Andorra, it’s also worth checking Strava: the current KOM is held by Jack Haig, who’s riding this year’s Vuelta, with a time of 28 minutes and 18 seconds. The fastest time this year belongs to Jay Vine, who clocked 29 minutes and 49 seconds in preparation for the Vuelta.

Climbs
11.0 km: Collada de Sentigosa (11.4 km at 4.1%)
66.5 km: Collada de Toses (24.3 km at 3.5%)
149,5 km: Alto de la Comella (4.2 km at 8.0%)
171,0 km: Pal (9.6 km at 6.3%)

Times
Start: 12:54 PM local time (6:54 AM EDT)
Finish: 5:15 PM local time (11:15 AM EDT)

We know Andorra can be wild in terms of weather. Just ask Tom Dumoulin, who won a Tour de France stage here in 2016. On Thursday, rain and fog are expected once again. And on top of the final climb, temperatures are forecasted to be a chilly 8°C.

Jonas Vingegaard reclaimed the red leader’s jersey after the team time trial. The Visma | Lease a Bike rider already showed two days ago that he’s not afraid to give it up again... and he might do just that on Thursday. The Vuelta is still long, and the serious climbing is just getting started.

Thanks to their strong time trial performance, the riders from UAE Emirates-XRG are now in position to take the red jersey. But do Juan Ayuso or João Almeida really want to take it this early on in the Vuelta? They’d have to attack Vingegaard, and he certainly won’t make it easy. Perhaps Jay Vine or Marc Soler, who are also within reach of red, might try something on home roads. Or perhaps Visma might, this time with Sepp Kuss. The American, along with Matteo Jorgenson, is a key domestique for Vingegaard, and he previously won a Tour stage in Andorra.

One rider who will definitely be eyeing the stage win is Giulio Ciccone of Lidl-Trek. The German-American team has come close several times this Vuelta, but it remains to be seen whether they’ll commit the whole team on such a hard day. The same question applies to Q36.5 and their leader Tom Pidcock.

Among the other GC contenders, we only have stage 2 as a proper reference point so far. Back then, the riders who looked strong were David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers), Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R), Jai Hindley, Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hanshgrohe), Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla), Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious).

A breakaway is certainly one of the realistic outcomes on this stage, especially if it includes strong climbers with the power to get away early. Riders to watch include Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), Victor Langelotti (INEOS Grenadiers), Harold Tejada (XDS-Astana), Pablo Castrillo, Javier Romo (Movistar), Simon Carr (Cofidis), Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Bruno Armirail and Léo Bisiaux (Decathlon AG2R).

Top favorites: Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Jay Vine (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Outsiders: Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Juan Ayuso and Marc Soler (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Long shots: Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers), Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R), Joao Almeida (UAE Emirates-XRG), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike), Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) and Javier Romo (Movistar)