Before the tour de France has finished the route for the “Tour of Spain” has been finalised.
For the first time since 2009 it is coming to Almeria and it will pass Vera!
The 11th day of the Spanish tour on August 30th will start in Lorca (Murcia) and will enter the province of Almería along the coast and visit a total of thirteen municipalities (Pulpí, Cuevas del Almanzora, Vera, Garrucha, Mojácar, Turre, Los Gallardos, Sorbas N-340a), Tabernas (N-340a), Velefique, Bacares and Gérgal ) until finally reaching it’s goal, the Observatorio Astronómico de Calar Alto. 2006 was the last time the Los Filabres summit was the final stage. The leg is 188 km long and it is the third time that the Calar Alto Observatory will be the destination of the day in the most important cycling event in Spain.
The race really gets started at the foot of Alto de Velefique. The climb opens with a first kilometre at 11.4% before the grades gradually flatten out until the last kilometre which is merely a false flat. Yet, the 14 kilometres climb up to Velefique is not for the faint of heart. The average gradient from base to top is 6.4%. Velefique is a former mining town in the Sierra de Filabres. In 2009 the place was the finish to a stage with over 6,000 metres of climbing. The now retired Ryder Hesjedal powered to the win.
The closing climb leads up to the largest telescope in mainland Europe, the Observatorio Astronómico de Calar Alto at an elevation of 2,168 metres. The 22 kilometres climb is averaging 6.3%, while the steepest sectors of 18% are on the lower slopes. In the section before the top the climb is irregular with steep stretches alternating with false flats and even short drops.
The Almeria stage is number 11 and is on 30th August. It will be shown on Spanish TV, Eurosport and ITV4. I haven’t managed to find a detailed map of the route but it leaves Villaricos and heads towards Garrucha presumably via Bourganvillas roundabout unless it makes an unlikely detour through the town. If anyone has seen the route in Google maps please let me know and I’ll add it to the post.
More good publicity for the region and it should make for some spectacular viewing. They will use two helicopters to film the race, one of which will be on scenic, touristic filming duty. Let’s hope they do as good a job of it as the shots from the Tour de France show.
The Observatorio Astronómico de Calar Alto looks fascinating and is somewhere that we really should visit.
The German-Spanish Astronomical Center at Calar Alto is located in the Sierra de Los Filabres (Andalucía, Southern Spain) north of Almeria. It is operated jointly by the Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (MPIA) in Heidelberg, Germany, and the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC) in Granada/Spain. Calar Alto provides three telescopes with apertures of 1.23m, 2.2m and 3.5m to the general community. A 1.5m-telescope, also located on the mountain, is operated under the control of the Observatory of Madrid.