Most years the organisers of the Vuelta a España surprise us with some brutally tough new climb, but for 2017 they look to have outdone themselves with the Alto de los Machucos on stage 17.
Located deep in the mountainous countryside of Cantabria in the north of the country, this is nine kilometre climb could cause just as much damage as the better-known Sierra Nevada and Alto de l'Angliru which are also included in this year's route.
The steepest section comes early on Los Machucos (Credit: Dangerous Roads)
The reason is that hidden within its nine per cent average gradient are some brutally steep slopes that ramp up to between 28 and 31 per cent (depending on your protractor).
The uneven road surface won't help the riders (Credit: Dangerous Roads)
The climb is tackled on stage 17 of the race, a day after Chris Froome (Team Sky) further stamped his authority on the race on stage 16's 40.2km individual time trial, increasing his lead to nearly two minutes.
Starting inland at Villadiego, the riders will tackle two climbs - the second-category Portillo de Lunada and the first-category Puerto de Alisas - before starting the Alto de los Machucos from the town of Arredondo with roughly 13km remaining.
The road briefly flattens out midway up (Credit: Dangerous Roads)
The first few kilometres are steady with the odd downhill section, before the climb starts in earnest with a sudden 17 per cent ramp with seven kilometres to the finish.
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That heralds the start of the toughest part of the climb, with the gradient rarely dropping below 20 per cent for the next two kilometres, and the steepest ramps of up to 31 per cent also in this section.
The second half of the climb features more double digit gradients (Credit: Dangerous Roads)
To make things worse, the steepest parts of the climbs are surfaced with concretes and include little ruts every foot or so.
That's great if you're in a vehicle struggling for grip the wet, but not so nice if you're a bike rider struggling to hold on to any semblance of forward momentum.
One of the final steep ramps to the summit (Credit: Dangerous Roads)
Once that section is over, the riders will enjoy a slight respite at around six per cent for a kilometre, before a three-kilometre section that averages 12 per cent, but has a very uneven gradient to include a couple more ramps of more than 20 per cent.
The site of the finish line at the top of Los Machucos (Credit: Google)
(Image credit: Google)
Finally, like on the Angliru, the riders can enjoy a short donwnhill section towards the finish, before a flat-ish run to the line at the Monumento Vaca Pasiega.
A few might hope that this brutally steep climb could put Froome out of his comfort zone, but given his dominance in the race so far, it's hard to see anyone being able to challenge his grip on the red jersey.
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Henry Robertshaw began his time at Cycling Weekly working with the tech team, writing reviews, buying guides and appearing in videos advising on how to dress for the seasons. He later moved over to the news team, where his work focused on the professional peloton as well as legislation and provision for cycling. He's since moved his career in a new direction, with a role at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
