Thursday, September 1st - Stage 12 193.2km
Los Corrales de Buelna to Bilbao
The Vuelta returns to the Basque Country in order to enjoy its unmatchable fans. Euskadi's love of cycling always makes the stage finales a huge success in every aspect. It will be a long day, covering 193.2km between the Cantabrian locality of Los Corrales de Buelna and the city of Bilbao, with four mountain passes, the most notable being Alisas and the double pass through El Vivero in the final part, with a 4.2km climb and an 8.5% inclination just 13km from the finale at the Biscayan capital. It is the mountain pass with the greatest influx of public that I have ever seen in all my years at the Vuelta a España. Simply amazing. Possible sprint to the finish-line following some escapes that will allow us to relive the exciting moments experienced in 2011 with an identical finish. The Vuelta returned to Euskadi after 33 years of absence.
