The Vuelta a Espana serves as the final Grand Tour of the professional cycling season, but unlike most sports where the season ramps to a playoff tournament, the Vuelta has the challenge of taking place after cycling’s largest race, the Tour de France. The Spanish race sometimes suffers as a result, with fewer top riders, many opting to rest between the Tour de France and the single day of World Championship racing in the fall.
The Vuelta can also be a great deal more. It is a race of second chances, where dashed dreams can be resurrected.
The 2014 Vuelta has shaped up to be an exciting race. Rather than a competition of less known riders, it is shaping up to become an all-star race featuring many of the best riders all looking for redemption on the mixed stages of the Spanish tour.
Coverage of the Spanish Vuelta begins Saturday, Aug. 23 on Sportsnet ONE at 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT. | TV Schedule
Chris Froome is back, rested and recovered from the crash and subsequent injuries that took the British rider out of the Tour de France. That abandonment was a bitter pill to swallow for the 2013 Tour de France champion. With three time trials in the coming Spanish race, Froome can mix both his climbing and time trial skills to hunt for his first Grand Tour win of the year.
Alberto Contador entered the Tour de France as the expected contender looking to usurp the defending champion. In a cruel and painful fashion, Contador was forced to withdraw from the Tour with what turned out to be a broken tibia. The extent of his recovery is unknown; any expectation that the Spanish rider can battle for victory will depend on him improving through the race.
Meanwhile, after a quiet midseason, 2014 Giro d’Italia winner Nairo Quintana is ready to race his second major event of the year. Quintana seems on form, and would love to achieve a second Grand Tour title in the same year as his first. Should the Colombian rider struggle, his Movistar teammate Alejandro Valverde should be well positioned to take over the role of team leader.
Joaqium Rodriguez is looking for redemption after crashing out of the Giro. The Katusha lead rider raced at the Tour de France, and continued to improve through the three weeks of competition. If he’s held his form to the finish off the summer, “Purito” is certain to be contender.
Ryder Hesjedal is the most familiar Canadian name racing at the Vuelta, but his season has been quiet — a ninth-place finish at the Giro was his best result. Once again, Garmin Sharp has decided that Hesjedal and Irishman Dan Martin will share leadership duties at the start of the Spanish tour. Whoever performs best will garner the full support of the rest of the team.
Guillaume Boivin will ride for the Cannondale team. Hailing from Montreal, Boivin put in strong performances at the Tour de Pologne earlier this season. Fellow Québecois racer Hugo Houle will race for AG2R La Mondiale, having also raced at the Tour de Pologne.
The route of the Vuelta is mixed and should help to elevate only the very best riders while keeping the racing exciting. Unlike the Giro and the Tour where similar kinds of stages were grouped together, the Vuelta’s mountain stages are split up with flatter sections. The Vuelta is also the only event this season with three time trials. These factors should combine to keep racing close and force teams to defend their positions more aggressively.
The very first stage, held in Jerez, is the team time trial. Froome and Sky could be the team to pick for this stage, unless weather plays a role through the day.
By the end of the first week, the peloton will ride the first true summit finish, at La Zubia. Three categorized climbs, including the finish up Cumbres Verdes make this a climber’s stage. Quintana will likely use this stage to fire his opening volley.
Stage 10 is the first of the individual time trials. This could prove critical again for Froome. If BMC’s Cadel Evans is on form, he could make good use of the time trial to establish a lead.
The end of the second week brings a mammoth stage. Finishing on the 18 percent slopes of La Camperona will be brutal, but it’s the 24 percent grade earlier in the stage that will break all but the strongest riders. Two mountain stages follow before the peloton heads onto flatter roads.
On the penultimate day, the group faces the final mountain stage. If Quintana is still in the hunt, he’ll have to push hard here, ahead of the final stage, a time trial. This is a make-or-break stage for the climbers.
The final time trial closes out the Vuelta in Santiago de Compostela, not Madrid like most recent editions. The 9.7km course is short, and will pit more generalist riders against the work of the climbers over the previous mountain stages.
Where the Giro and Tour de France have well defined characters, the Vuelta has been a shape shifter, ebbing and flowing with the seasonal tides of riders and ambitions. The 2014 edition could mark a new point for the Spanish race, as a title fight between all those previously scorned and those looking to establish their name with an end of season Grand Tour performance.