Vuelta Guide

Just like the Tour de France there’s now link at the top of the page for a Vuelta a Espana guide. You will find stage summaries, information on time bonuses and mountain classifications plus plenty more, including a start list that will appear once the definitive version is available.

If you are browsing via the normal site then you will see the “Vuelta a España” link permanently at the top of the page. If you are on a mobile device then there is the drop-down menu on the top right of the screen.

I confess that normally at this point in the season the Vuelta seems long, almost too long as even watching bike races can be tiring. But I’m really looking forward to this year’s edition. It’s become a revenge race, the last chance saloon for stage racers to salvage the season, whether they’ve flopped, crashed or, in Contador’s case, been banned. On a more positive note it’s got an open and international field, arguably broader than the Giro. Jurgen Van den Broeck, Robert Gesink and Bauke Mollema take part, we get several Colombians and Team Sky want to win with Chris Froome. That said the obvious contenders are locals like Alberto Contador, Igor Anton and Joaquim Rodriguez. Indeed some say it’s merely about the margin of victory for Contador.

As the guide explains, the route has 10 “summit finishes” although these vary from a seaside lookout to a broad highway to a ski station to infamous climbs like the Cuitu Nigru and Bola Del Mundo where wild gradients and rough roads await. It all makes for an exciting race and close to the start I’ll look at a more detailed preview of the contenders and there will be daily stage previews during the race.

In the meantime there’s the overview at inrng.com/vuelta