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Vuelta a España, Spain

26 August - 17 September

Preview

Startlist
Stages and Maps, Key Stages, Overall Map
Photos, The Dust Devil's Daily Wrap
2005 Results

Unipublic, organizers of the Vuelta a España, presented a scorcher of an Iberian route back in December. The race organizers came through with a short and punchy 61st edition of their Vuelta: From Málaga to Madrid (3,129.2K) there are two individual TT's and five mountain finishes.

The race is kept mellow for the first four stages, starting with an opening Team Time Trial of 7.3K on the streets of Málaga. From the Team TT the race travels north on the western side of Spain to the region of Galicia. On the way the race will hit the first of five mountain finishes, stage 5 to Béjar. What is interesting is that Béjar is the birth place of Roberto Heras, the same rider that was expelled from the 2005 Vuelta.

Oddly, the 61st edition does not hit the high mountain peaks of the Pyrenees. The race does have its second and third mountain finish with stages 7 and 9. Stage 9 to Alto de La Cobertoria, in the Asturias region, is quite the doozy. Over 207.4K the riders will cover four categorized climbs before finishing on the final cat 1 climb. The riders will spend the following day resting in Avilés, conveniently close to the stage 9 finish.

After the rest day the race will travel south to Granada. In the southern Andalucía region the riders will face the two mountain finishes, stages 16 and 18. Stage 16 to the Observatorio Astronómico de Calar Alto follows the second day of rest, so the riders' legs should muddy, making for some interesting results. Stage 18, with the summit finish on the Sierra de la Pandera, will be the last stage for the climbers to make a dent in the general classification.

That leaves three flat stages left for the Vuelta: two sprint stages (there are 11 total) and the final 27.5K TT to Rivas Vaciamadrid. For 2006 the number of TT kilometers has been scaled down to 61, from last year's 94. If the mountains did not open up the GC then stage 20 could be the final factor in Spain's grand tour.

The Vuelta a España always gets an interesting mix of riders; those who suffered crashes in the early part of the season, top Spaniards with huge home pride and those who simply did not perform well in the first two Grand Tours.

Valverde and Vinokourov fall in the first category (although Vino's crash involved being on team Astaná prior to the start of the Tour de France). Both riders will be out to prove themselves, Valverde to prove that he can win a three-weeker and Vino to give an "in your face" performance to the ASO. Maybe Valverde will have slightly less pressure riding in the same squadra as the probable 2006 Tour winner, Oscar Pereiro.

2005 Vuelta winner, Russian Denis Menchov of Rabobank, will don the number 1. Il Russo will want to win this Vuelta out-right and should be backed by a strong Rabo squadra. Michael Rasmussen, winner of the Tour de France climbing classification, has already committed himself to be a foot soldier in Menchov's Iberian quest.

Disco, smarting from a Giro-Tour bust (Really, how were they going to top 2006?), will be packing heat in the form of Il Americano, Tom Danielson. Last year Danielson finished seventh in Spain and this year he will line up with solid Giro d'Italia experience. Expect something special from Durango Danielson in his adopted home country.

Iban Mayo, Samuel Sánchez, Haimar Zubeldia will power the orange Euskaltel-Euskadi squadra; Carlos Sastre (Team CSC), finishing second last year, might show but has still not committed to racing; and there will be a whole host of other riders who will be preparing for the World Championships but are sure to light up the Spanish roads on their way to Salzburg.

Vuelta Announces Riders, 2 August
Comunidad Valenciana Suffers Another Blow, 28 July
Vuelta a España Announces the 22 Teams for 2006, 2 March
2006 Vuelta a España Uncovered, 14 December

Past Winners (from 1960):