Chris Froome wanted a long individual time trial, and the organisers have duly responded with a 39km route which could cause some harm to the mountain men overall.

With no big time trial at the Tour de France, the route for the Vuelta actually looks better suited to Froome – and having won the Tour despite that, it is an ominous sign for his rivals if he is still in contention come Burgos.

Though played out some 860m above sea level, the course itself is largely flat, passing through Burgos once before returning again for the finish, giving some riders the chance to put time into the pure climbers – and with no more summit finishes left in the race.

The race will be far from over when the last man crosses the Burgos finishing line, but it could prove that whoever is in red come the end of stage 17 will be the man topping the Madrid podium.