If things go ahead as planned - and for reasons everybody knows, that's far from a given in this year's Vuelta a España - the race is set for a gripping last mountain top finale on Saturday at La Bola del Mundo.
From the summit of the 2,261 metre-high hors categorie ascent, the four huge Torres KIO skyscrapers that tower over the northern end of Madrid are clearly visible, as is the huge dome of polluted air, nicknamed la boina (the bonnet), that clings indefinitely round the Spanish capital.
