The 2013 Vuelta a Espana gets under way in just over a week and despite the absence of many big name riders, there’s good reason to believe that the third and final Grand Tour of the season could once again be the pick of the bunch this year.
Here are five reasons why cycling fans have good cause to be happy:
The mountainous route
With 11 summit finishes – including a rare outing in France, at Peyragudes, and a deciding stage on the unforgiving Angliru – the 2013 route is even more demanding than last year’s offering.
The anti-clockwise route around Spain will also feature an appetising finish atop the Coll de la Gallina in Andorra – where Chris Froome cracked last year – and four early stages in the hilly region of Galicia.
What’s more, the race’s opening team time trial will be something of a novelty, starting on a large floating wooden platform used for shellfish farming on a sea inlet in Galicia.
Summit finishes on days two and three will ensure that the start of the Vuelta is more explosive than that of the Tour in Corsica – while Spain’s usual hot weather will mean the race should not be disrupted by the kind of rain and snow that made the Giro a bit of a joke.
Throw in some innovative stages in sweltering Andalucia and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, plus a mouthwatering finish atop the fearsome Pena Carbarga in the last week, and fans are really in for a treat – as long as the riders come out to play.
Open race across the board
With no Christopher Froome, no Alberto Contador and no Nairo Quintana, the battle for the GC should be quite an unpredictable affair.
After all, the likes of Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodriguez could still be suffering from their Tour exertions while the 2010 winner (and this year’s Giro champion) Vincenzo Nibali has stressed that he’s “no superman”.
Arguably, there has not been a more open race since Ryder Hesjedal unexpectedly won last year’s Giro – and while this year’s Italian and French races seemed pretty much dead-certs for Nibali and Froome, there’s no telling who the favourite for the Vuelta is.
And it’s not just the red jersey that should provide the sparks: in the absence of the peloton’s big-name sprinters, we could see a new star born over the roads of Spain.
Look at the example of John Degenkolb last year, who came from nowhere to take five victories for Argos-Shimano.
Older, more threadbare fast-men like Matti Breschel (Saxo-Tinkoff), Allan Davis (Orica-GreenEdge) and even Vincente Reynes (Lotto Belisol) may finally get a sniff of glory – while the stage could be set for yet another young German from Argos-Shimano, Nikias Arndt.
21-year-old Arndt picked up a win in the Arctic Race of Norway while team-mates Marcel Kittel and Degenkolb were celebrating the latter’s wedding; can he step up if he’s selected to make his Grand Tour debut?
Also impressive in Norway was Vacansoleil-DCM youngster Barry Markus, who sprinted to a couple of top five finishes on his way to taking tenth on GC.
Like Arndt, the 22-year-old Dutchman is in line to make his big race debut.
Another rider to watch is, of course, Mark Renshaw.
Winner of a stage in the recent Eneco Tour, the Australian’s days as a sprinter at Belkin are numbered – and what better way to gear up for next season back alongside Mark Cavendish at OPQS than getting a few more solo wins under the belt.
Colombian connection
Froome may have won the Tour in swashbuckling style, but most fans were more won over by Movistar’s polka-dot king Quintana – the best of a golden generation of Colombians coming through the ranks.
Earlier in the year, Sky’s Rigoberto Uran was the pick of the bunch in the Giro – winning a stage and taking second place on the podium despite having to work for team leader Bradley Wiggins prior to his withdrawal.
Uran returns for the Vuelta for his last Grand Tour at Sky before joining OPQS – and he’ll line-up once again alongside livewire compatriot Sergio Henao in what could be a sumptuous display of tag-team riding.
Ag2R-La Mondiale youngster Carlos Betancur also returns to the fold after sitting out the Tour, the 23-year-old looking to build on his fifth place overall in Italy.
Naturally aggressive and at home in the mountains, Betancur picked up a string of second-places in the Giro and will no doubt look to go one better and notch his maiden Grand Tour stage win in the Vuelta.
And don’t forget talented Colombian duo Winner Anacona (Lampre) and Cayetano Sarmiento (Cannondale), both of whom will be targeting a stage win and a high finish in Madrid.
Riders return
It’s not just about the exciting influx of Colombian cyclists – there are also a number of top riders making their return after putting their feet up during the Tour.
Italians Nibali and Ivan Basso are back in action after showing some form in the recent Vuelta a Burgos.
Sure, Basso’s getting on a bit and will probably not be a major factor on GC.
But Nibali has what it takes to win his second Grand Tour of the season and will be ably supported by a strong Astana team that could well feature the likes of Jakob Fuglsang, Janez Brajkovic, Valerio Agnoli, Tanel Kangert and Paolo Tiralongo.
In 2010, Nibali finished third in the Giro before winning the Vuelta and so he knows that his body can peak for two major races in the same season – despite his insistence this week that he has “not got a Superman cape with an S on it”.
Another Italian, Eros Capecchi, suffered with allergies during the Giro but he returns for the Vuelta where he could well be Movistar’s main man, with Valverde and Benat Intxausti in support.
Ag2R-La Mondiale do not only have Betancur chomping at the bit, but also the diminutive climber Domenico Pozzovivo.
Any race featuring the piano-playing Italian is all the better for it – and Pozzovivo will look to turn things round after a disappointing performance in his home tour back in May.
Having won the inaugural Arctic Race of Norway, BMC’s Thor Hushovd looks set to make his Grand Tour return after almost two years out in the cold.
The Norwegian sprinter has not completed a Grand Tour since the 2011 Grande Boucle, withdrawing from last year’s Giro and being sidelined ever since through injury, illness and poor form.
Having skipped both the Giro and Tour because of an internal investigation surrounding his past relationship with the controversial doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, Spaniard Luis Leon Sanchez returns to the Belkin fold for the Vuelta.
The 29-year-old has four Tour stage wins to his name but has never won on home soil – and after a season spent largely on the sidelines, Sanchez will be motivated to make an impact.
Also making his first Grand Tour appearance of the year is RadioShack’s Swiss time trial and spring classics specialist Fabian Cancellara, who will ride the Vuelta in preparation for the world championships in Tuscany.
Euskaltel-Euskadi swansong
With the future of the Basque team very much in doubt, this could well be the last Grand Tour that we see the famous orange jerseys of Euskaltel playing a part in the peloton.
While this would make the feedzone of any race indubitably a safer place, cycling will certainly feel rather empty without those we affectionately call the “carrots”.
But from an entirely selfish point of view, it should make for great viewing over three weeks in Spain – especially that trifecta of stages in the Pyrenees ahead of the second rest day – because Euskaltel will surely want to go down fighting.
There always remains the chance that an 11th-hour lifeline is thrown – and with this in mind, and their own individual futures at stake, expect some aggressive riding from Euskaltel from the outset.
The same can be said of Vacansoleil-DCM, who could well also disband at the end of the current campaign.
The likes of Thomas De Gendt, Wout Poels and Johnny Hoogerland – if selected – will see the entire race as one long job interview, which means one thing: fireworks off the front.
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