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Linked articleStage 10: Alcaraz to Elche de la Sierra | Vuelta a España 2026 Preview
The first stage after the rest day runs 184.5 kilometers from Alcaraz to Elche de la Sierra, and it carries the official classification of hilly. That label is accurate but incomplete. This is not a sprint stage with a bump or two. It is a rolling, twisting route through the interior of Castilla-La Mancha and Albacete, the kind of terrain that discourages neat control and rewards opportunism. Alcaraz sits in the hills south of the Albacete plain, a small town with steep streets and a castle ruin visible from the start. The route heads northeast through a landscape of dry ridges and shallow valleys, crossing the Mundo river basin before…
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