This day doesn’t call for heroics, but it’s no stroll either. It’s a short stage that mostly takes you uphill: over 550 metres of climbing, and the descent afterwards is hardly worth mentioning. Your legs will notice, but your fitness probably won’t.
The climb comes at an even rhythm, with no harsh spikes, so you can settle into your own pace. Above 1000 metres the air turns fresher and the views open up. Somewhere along the way you cross into Cantabria. You won’t see anything to mark it, but it still feels like something.
In Corconte you arrive at a small village. Rucksack off, shoes off. The afternoon is entirely yours.