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The Vuelta a Espaaa gets underway as it did in 2015, with a team time trial. At 27.8 kilometres, the Stage 1 should see moderate time gaps between those hoping for overall victory. Join The Roar for live coverage from 2:30am (AEST).
The final Grand Tour of the year shapes as the most compelling general classification fight.
Chris Froome, Alberto Contador, and Nairo Quintana represent the established contenders, while Giro standouts Esteban Chaves, and Steven Kruisjwijk lead the new guard.
A brutal course awaits those dreaming of overall victory, with ten summit finishes sprinkled throughout the 21 stages.
Time trialling has been kept to a minimum, with today’s TTT and Stage’s 19 37-kilometre individual time trial being the only tests against the clock.
The 2016 Vuelta is one for the pure climbers, presenting Contador and Quintana with their best chance to knock off the seemingly invincible Froome.
Coming off his dominant Tour de France victory, Froome starts as favourite, however the plethora of summit finishes in the race will see him under constant attack.
The TTT has become the traditional start of the Vuelta in recent editions, and the 2016 opening stage, from Balneario Laias to Castrelo de Mino, is reminiscent of the 2013 TTT (27.4km), which produced a 49-second gap between first and tenth.
For teams with GC ambitions that don’t have the horsepower needed for a TTT, today is about damage limitation. On the flipside, teams like Sky and BMC have an opportunity to take valuable seconds on their rivals.
Movistar, who have shown marked improvement in the TTT, should be able to keep Quintana in touch with Froome, likewise Orica Bike-Exchange for Chaves.
Contador’s Tinkoff team, on paper, doesn’t look overly suited, so they will be hoping to limit their losses, as will Kruiswijk and Lotto NL-Jumbo.
Prediction
BMC will narrowly hold off Team Sky, and Spaniard Samuel Sanchez, in his home Grand Tour, will pull on the first red leader’s jersey of the 2016 Vuelta a Espana.
Join The Roar for live coverage of Stage 1 of the 2016 Vuelta a Espana from 2:30am (AEST) and don’t forget to add your own comments below.
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