Race Preview: The Vuelta a Espaa is passing through the Valencia region this week-end, so we sent our PEZ-Man in Spain, Al Hamilton, out on his bike to reconnoiter the final of stage 9 to Cumbre del Sol and the summit finish on the ultra steep Alto de Puig Llorena. It is believed he cheated on most of the parcour, but there is photographic evidence that he rode to the finish line. Here’s his Vuelta stage 9 preview…The Vuelta a Espaa has been giving the region of Valencia a miss recently, there has been the odd stage, but since Valencia bailed the race out by sponsoring the leader’s jersey and hosting the start in 2002 (my first press accredited Vuelta), the stages have been thin on the ground. This year the Spanish Grand Tour passes through the autonomous region in two stages, stage 9 starts in Torrevieja and works its way north up the coast to the summit finish on the Alto de Puig Llorena on the Cumbre del Sol next to the small village of Benitatxell.The last kilometer is in sightThe next day, Monday the 31st of August, the stage starts in the City of Valencia and again heads north, but on an inland route to take in two climbs on its way to a probable sprint finish in Castelln. The last climb of the day, the Cat 2 Alto del Desierto de las Palmas comes over 20 kilometers from the line. From there the race transfers to Andorra...
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