Unipublic, the organizers of the Vuelta a España, have announced that the penultimate day of the Vuelta will be a ITT going around the city of Toledo. Good stuff; not only is Toledo easy to get in and out of (provided you don't have a car), it's completely well kitted-out for tourists and makes an easy day trip from Madrid.
Why Toledo again, if there was a stage finish there last year? This year is the 50th anniversary of Federico Bahamontes' Tour de France victory, and while Vuelta organizers haven't come out and said that the ITT is meant to pay homage to the Eagle of Toledo, it's worth noting that, instead of taking advantage of the highways around the city (of which there are not really that many), the route's going to go through a number of neighborhoods that lie outside of the city centre. (If I have time today I'll try to cobble together some kind of map, or see if the Toledo City Council will get one together.)
Hints: If you're going, for God's sake, don't drive. The route will go right by the train station (a trip on the high-speed AVE will get you to Toledo in about 35 minutes), going east through the Santa María de la Benquerencia neighborhood (probably following the N400 highway), then head south and back towards the city, going along the Tagus before heading back up to finish beside the Army Artillery Academy. Since the recently refurbished Toledo Youth Hostel sits right over the AVE station and right beside the Academy, THAT's the place you want to stay in if you want to be in the middle of the action. Bring a hat and tons of water - there's little or no shade along the route.
I'm not sure why the final TT route was posted before all of the other routes - maybe the organizers got the traffic permits sorted for that route before all of the others were firmed up. At any rate, it promises to make for a great day out of Madrid!
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