Vuelta a España director Javier Guillén has hailed Chris Froome’s decision to participate in the race as the “icing on the cake” for this year’s event.
The top four finishers at the Tour de France – Froome, Nairo Quintana, Alejandro Valverde and Vincenzo Nibali – will all line up at the start in Marbella on August 22, as will Fabio Aru and Mikel Landa, who finished second and third at the Giro d’Italia.
“If you had told me before the start of the year, I wouldn’t have believed it. It’s the icing on the cake,” Guillén told Spanish newspaper AS. “It’s good that so many important riders have thought to make more of a big year. Froome’s decision is fantastic for the Vuelta and for cycling.”
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Defending champion Alberto Contador, who won the Giro and finished 5th at the Tour, is the most high-profile absentee from the Vuelta field, but Guillén will surely feel that Froome’s presence is a suitable compensation.
Since the race switched to its current Autumn slot on the calendar 20 years ago, only one reigning Tour champion before Froome has gone on to ride the Vuelta in the same season, Carlos Sastre in 2008. Sastre went on to finish that Vuelta in third place behind Contador.
Backed by a Sky team that seems likely to include Sergio Henao and Geraint Thomas, Froome will have designs on final overall victory, having placed second at the Vuelta in 2011, when he lost out by just 13 seconds to Juan José Cobo, and last year, when he placed second behind Contador. Froome also finished in 4th place at the 2012 Vuelta.
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