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The 2014 Vuelta a Espana begins in earnest today with a 177.4 kilometre-long stage for the sprinters, snaking westwards along the coast, from Algeciras to San Fernando. Interestingly, our start-town of Algeciras lies just across the bay from the contentious topic that is Gibraltar.
An almost entirely a pizza-pan flat parcours could condense the stage’s excitement and drama in to the final kilometres.
However, with the stage skirting the Spanish coastline there is the distinct possibility of crosswinds throwing a spanner in the works.
As an entrée to the main course, there should fierce battle from kilometre zero for the unclaimed King of the Mountains jersey.
There may only be a meagre three points on offer at the summit of the Third Category Alto del Cabrito, but the publicity which comes with holding the jersey is priceless to the teams and their sponsors.
The final kilometre before the finishing line could be the most challenging obstacle for the sprinters and their lead-outs to overcome today.
With two tight 90-degree turns lying roughly 800 metres and 600-500 metres before a sweeping right-hand bend in to our approximately 400 metre-long finishing straight, meaning positioning could well decide who claims the stage honours.
With Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel and Andre Greipel all absent from the race, the 2014 Vuelta a Espana presents itself as a great opportunity for the other sprinters to add an illustrious victory to their palmarès.
The Vuelta a Espana has seen the sprinters outfoxed in the past, however, these freak results usually tend to occur later in to the race when fatigue begins to take its toll.
Thanks to the consistency and strength of their sprint train Giant–Shimano and German sprinter John Degenkolb is my favourite for the stage victory.
Seeking to thwart the German will be French FDJ.fr sprinter Nacer Bouhanni, who could end up trying to ride on the coat tails of the Giant–Shimano lead-out should his own FDJ.fr lead-out crumble apart.
Queuing up behind our two favourites for the stage victory will be Moreno Hofland of Belkin Pro Cycling, Matteo Pelucchi of IAM Cycling, Andrea Guardini of Team Astana and Gerald Ciolek of MTN–Qhubeka.
Flying high on confidence from recent victories both Moreno Hofland and Andrea Guardini could be the strongest challengers to John Degenkolb or Nacer Bouhanni’s expected victory.
Slovakian Peter Sagan of Team Cannondale and young Australian Michael Matthews of Orica–GreenEDGE should be in contention for the stage honours. However, the tougher finishes yet to come should suit them better than today’s flatter finish.
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