Ok, it’s on its way once again, and this year there are more stages than ever in the north of Spain in La Vuelta – Spains equivalent to the Tour de France. And this year there are two stages which go very close to Casa Quiros – one right underneath.
And if possible, the two stages this year are even more brutal than last years in Asturias which ended up on the Alto de la Cubilla after passing under Casa Quiros.

Stage 14
So even though this is not considered the harder of the two stages to me, knowing the climbs, it looks very, very hard. It’s also 170km long and takes in three category 1 climbs! This includes La Cobertoria from Pola de Lena (which is sooo steep) as well as then heading up San Lorenzo which is another very difficult pass, before topping off on the long grind of Farrapona.

This stage passes underneath Casa Quiros on 29th August and I’ll hopefully be riding it the day before. One thing to bear in mind is that the end of August is usually the hottest time of year in Asturias and so heat could be a factor.

Stage 15
Now this stage is the one which is considered to be the one which may well decide the race as it finishes up the legendary Alto de Angliru which with it’s sections of up to 23% (and we’re not talking one or two metres either). This climb strikes fear into the heart of some of the most hardened athletes. And when it was first proposed for the tour it was said that some riders thought ‘they are trying to kill us’. However, it also makes for great drama like it was two/three years ago when Contador bowed out with an incredible stage win in his final year as a pro…

This stage is very close to Casa Quiros, starting from Pola de Laviana, about 20km away and wending its way round to finish up Angliru which is about 35km away.

So if you fancy checking it all out Casa Quiros is not booked up for those dates at the time of writing this blog…

And if you want to see more about riding here and the Angliru in particular you can check out one of our guests experiences in this Blogpost – Angliru Blog