Anything can happen on any given day at the Vuelta a España, making it the most unpredictable and so often most dramatic of the three Grand Tours.
This year, there is ample room for invention on the long road that links the opening team time trial in Torrevieja on Saturday with the concluding procession in Madrid on September 15.
Ahead of the Vuelta, Cyclingnews casts an eye over five stages that might weigh particularly heavily on the final result.
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Stage 5: L'Eliana - Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre, 170.7km
Unlike the Giro d’Italia or the Tour de France, the Vuelta a España tends to start off with a rather nebulous list of favourites. By this point of the season, riders of lofty reputation and ability can understandably fall prey to deficits of motivation and freshness, allowing room for some rather left-field contenders – and winners – to emerge.
Thus, while the Vuelta organisation has invited a selection of favourites to its 'top rider' press conference on Thursday – for the record: Alejandro Valverde, Richard Carapaz, Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott), Primož Roglič, Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma), Miguel Ángel López and Jakob Fuglsang (Astana Pro Team) – there are no guarantees that all of this octet will be competitive across the three weeks of the Vuelta. And that adds an interesting twist to the race.
Wednesday’s first summit finish at the Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre is where the fog should begin to dissipate. A mountain stage this early in the Vuelta may well catch out any riders who arrive in Spain still lacking in condition.
Stage 9: Andorra la Vella - Cortals d'Encamp, 94.4km
Stage 10, Jurançon - Pau, 36.2km Individual time trial
Stage 13, Bilbao - Los Machucos, 166.4km
Stage 18, Colmenar Viejo - Becerril de la Sierra, 177.5km
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/vuelta-a-espana-2019-5-key-stages
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