The 2014 Vuelta features eight summit finishes in all, with stage 14 – which finishes atop La Camperona – among them.
The start of three crucial stages in the mountains of Cantabria and Asturias, the stage is likely to see the peloton tested early on the ascent of the Puerto de San Glorio.
Measuring just shy of 21 kilometres in length and with an the average gradient of 5.8 per cent, Movistar, if there tactics at the Giro and Tour were anything to go by, will likely bring men forward to set a furious pace.
Team Sky, of course, are no strangers to hitting the front in numbers either, while Tony Martin is likely to be among the men looking to pull hard for Uran.
Having climbed the San Glorio, the stage then covers more than 60 kilometres on largely flat roads, before a category-one ascent of La Camperona to finish.
After rising steadily for four kilometres, the route then kicks up sharply – and looks well suited to the likes of Rodriguez as the gradient reaches more than 19 per cent in parts, offering prime spots for a late attack.
