Cycling

La Vuelta Stage 17 odds and predictions

The 2023 La Vuelta has reached boiling point and many expect to see a change in the red jersey during Stage 17. The fascinating battle between the three Jumbo-Visma riders seems to be swinging in favour of Jonas Vingegaard right now. However, a lot can change in a day. Can any of his teammates challenge Vingegaard? Can somebody else steal the show? Below is our Stage 17 preview as well as some free betting tips and predictions.

ST 17 scaled
Photo by Icon sport

La Vuelta Stage 17 Profile

The 2023 La Vuelta Stage 17 starts in Ribadesella and finishes in Angliru. The stage is only 124.4 km (77.3 miles) long and the starting time is 12:40 GMT. Meanwhile, the  estimated finish time is 16:30 GMT.

Stage 17 profile
From La Vuelta official website

This short stage promises to bring excitement and possibly decisive GC moves as after an easy opening half things get really exciting during the final 50km with the crescendo reached at the top of a climb that is the stuff of legend as far as La Vuelta history is concerned. After two challenging intermediate climbs the route finishes atop the iconic Alto de El Angliru.

The run-up is pretty easy before two 1st category climbs begin the proper action in the 50 kilometres ahead of the finish climb. The Alto de Colladiela is a 7.8-kilometre long climb with an average gradient of 7.1%, while the Alto de Cordal is 5.4-kilometre at 9.2%.

Then comes the moment of truth. The final climb of the day has been visited many times in the past, the last time in 2020. The Alto de El Angliru promises to test the riders to their limits and only the toughest can attack on such a climb.

The Angliru is 12.4-kilometre long, but there are really three Angliru’s. The first 5 kilometres go up at 8% and following a relatively flat kilometre things become difficult. The second half of the climb has an average gradient of 15%. Riders face the steepest section of 23.5% – aptly named Cueña les Cabres (goat path) – with 3 kilometres remaining.

Our betting tips and predictions for La Vuelta Stage 17

Team Jumbo-Visma contains the two main favourites for the overall win. With the race now only a few days away from completion this short Stage 17 finishes on an iconic climb and all the riders would love to be crowned winners at the top of the Alto de El Angliru. Here are our predictions:

Our Outright Prediction: Jonas Vingegaard @ 5/2 (3.50)

Jonas Vingegaard looked really impressive in his win of Stage 16. The Dane gained serious time on everyone in just a short climb on Tuesday. Now, Vingegaard will be confident he can finally put the red jersey on as the Angliru is exactly the type of climb Vingegaard loves.

With the profile suiting him and after an impressive display on Tuesday we can see Vingegaard trying to make his decisive move exactly during Stage 17.

Our Each-way Prediction: Remco Evenepoel @ 1/4 (1.25)

There is one other rider who will fancy his chances for the win and this is the defending La Vuelta champion Remco Evenepoel. Remco is well adrift from the overall leaders but he has a serious lead in the race for the King of the Mountains. This should motivate the Belgian to attack every categorised climb during Stage 17. We think this might be enough to give Evenepoel a podium finish as he will be chasing King of the Mountains points.

Our Dark Horse Prediction: Hugh Carthy @ 33/1 (34.00)

For our dark horse, we pick the Brit Hugh Carthy. Carthy is the last rider to win at the top of the Angliru. He was the rider who won the stage of the 2020 La Vuelta that finished at the summit of this iconic climb. This should be enough to give the Brit confidence. He clearly knows how to tackle this climb, so watch out for Carthy if he finds a way to join a breakaway during one of the earlier climbs.

La Vuelta Stage 17 Odds

Vuelta stage 17 scaled
Photo by Icon sport

These are the top 10 favourites according to the bookies to win Stage 17:

Jonas Vingegaard 5/2 (3.50)

Remco Evenepoel 5/2 (3.50)

Primoz Roglic 15/2 (7.50)

Sepp Kuss 11/1 (12.00)

Wout Poels 12/1 (13.00)

Juan Ayuso 16/1 (17.00)

Michael Storer 16/1 (17.00)

Romain Bardet 33/1 (34.00)

Rui Costa 33/1 (34.00)

Hugh Carthy 33/1 (34.00)

As we can see the main bunch of riders among the top 10 favourites to win Stage 17 are decent climbers and GS contenders. Our first two picks from above are the two main favourites for the stage win too.

Our dark horse pick Carthy is also in the top 10 favourites. He will need to be in a breakaway to stand a chance of winning the stage so expect to see Carthy trying to join such a bunch of riders early on.


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About the author

Iskra

Iskra had a promising, at least she believed so, tennis and volleyball careers as a junior but a series of injuries ended her hopes to become a professional athlete very early.

Instead, she focused all her energy on her other passion, writing. For over a decade, Iskra had been a freelance sports writer. Football, basketball and tennis are the main fields of her expertise.