The Vuelta a Espana this year is going to be one for the climbers, with the chances for the pure sprinters very few and very far between.
With 11 summit finishes on the Vuelta this year, you can expect only the climbers in the best shape to be in with a shot at overall victory.
Even when the stage is not considered a mountain stage there are normally some lumps for the sprinters to get over on their way around Spain this year.
Juan Jose Cobo, Alberto Contador and Bradley Wiggins have all declared they will miss the Vuelta this season. That does mean the defending champion of the 2012 Vuelta, Contador, will not be there to defend his title.
Some of the general classification contenders who have confirmed they will be participating in the Vuelta a Espana 2013 include Giro d’Italia winner Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), Tour de France podium finisher Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Chris Horner (RadioShack-Leopard-Trek).
Other names include Bauke Mollema (Belkin), Daniel Navarro (Cofidis), Rigoberto Uran, Sergio Henao (both Sky) and Carlos Bentacur (AG2R).
Expect these men to make up the basis of the top 10 for the GC on the Vuelta. Another man who hasn’t yet confirmed to be racing but would like to is Eros Cappechi, who could be a major man for Alejandro Valverde.
The sprinters who have confirmed they are racing the Vuelta so far, are not the pure sprinters such as Mark Cavendish (Omega), Andre Greipel (Lotto) or Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano), but men who have a chance of making it over the mountains without getting eliminated and have chances to make it over the hills on days when there are flat finishes, which as I have already stated are very few and very far between.
Peter Sagan (Liquigas) will probably not race the Vuelta, however John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) has said he is excited by the route and team Sky have said they hope to have Edvald Boasson Hagen back for the Vuelta.
Expect these two to be the main players for the few flat/hilly flat finish stages during the race.
When looking at the GC riders who have confirmed they would like to race in the Vuelta a Espana you would firstly have to question Joaquim Rodriguez and Alejandro Valverde’s fitness heading into such a race after a gruelling Tour de France.
Chris Horner hasn’t had a lot of racing after being out for much of the year due to injury but if he has any kind of form will handle him self just fine.
Rigoberto Uran proved his major skill level after taking over from Bradley Wiggins on the Giro halfway through and still managing a podium finish, so don’t be surprised if he is up high in the GC on the Vuelta.
Bauke Mollema is a man not many had heard of before the Tour however had a brilliant tour and at one point looked in line for a podium finish.
However, just like the Giro and Tour this year, there is one man who looks better than the rest and is the clear favourite. He goes by the name Vincenzo Nibali.
Just like the Giro, where it was the same man, or the Tour, where it was Chris Froome (Sky), Nibali is clearly the one favourite.
He is taking a full team bent on Nibali winning and he will be fresh after having skipped the Tour.
If Nibali is to win the Vuelta he will complete a magical season, winning two Grand Tours with the world championships still to come.
Overall this is going to be a very climbers-based Vuelta, with hardly any chances for the sprinters.
I can’t wait for it to get going.
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