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RACE REPORTS: 63RD VUELTA A ESPAÑA STARTS SATURDAY WITH CONTADOR-SASTRE BATTLE
Tim Maloney-European Editor
August 29, 2008
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The 63rd Vuelta a España starts in Granada on Saturday in the capital
of Andalusia at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The race
features a hombre
a hombre battle between 2008 Tour De France winner Carlos Sastre of
Team CSC-Saxo Bank and 2007 Tour De France winner Alberto Contador of
Team Astana. Defending champion Denis Menchov (Rabobank) and Cadel
Evans (Silence-Lotto) are sitting out this year, so the '08 Vuelta will
be a duel between the two top Spanish stage race riders.
Contador and Astana were snubbed at the 2008 Tour De France, but
Contador and Astana did get a late invite to the Giro d'Italia, which
the 25 year
old from Pinto win in fine fashion. But Contador's main goal of the
season has always been the Vuelta a España and he has prepared well for
the Spanish Grand Tour. If the Astana man can win the Vuelta and the
Giro, added to his '07 Tour win, Contador will become only the fifth
and also the youngest rider in history to sweep the grand tour tris.
Plus Astana will have Klöden, Leipheimer and Chechu Rubiera (in his
final Grand Tour) to support Contador in his Vuelta quest.
photo Roberto Bettini: Sastre Leads The Way At Olympic Games
Sastre, the freshly minted Tour De France champion has always ridden
well in the Vuelta but never won, with five top 10 finishes, including
two times 2nd (2005 & 07). His CSC-Saxo Bank team is not the
powerhouse TDF team, but with support riders like Cuesta, Kolobnev,
Gustov and Blaudzun. Pro Tour leader Alejandro Valverde (Caisse
d’Epargne) could also be a factor, but mainly for stage wins at this
years Spanish Tour. Other names to watch out for in the 63rd Vuelta a
España are Italian Damiano Cunego (Lampre) and 22 year old Robert
Gesink (Rabobank), who has had a breakout year in 2008 and makes his
Grand Tour debut. Talented Basque mountain man Igor Anton
(Euskaltel-Euskadi) could make his mark in the tough climbing. Anton
was eighth in the Vuelta in 2007, with a stage win and third overall in
the 2008 Tour de Suisse.
Stage hunters
include 37 year old Olympic silver medalist Davide Rebellin
(Gerolsteiner), World Champion Paolo Bettini (Quick Step), Filippo
Pozzato (Liquigas), Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank), all of whom are
looking for daily wins and to refine their form for the World
Championships, which are one week after the Vuelta ends in Varese,
Italy. Fastmen will battle Tom Boonen (Quick Step) for finish line
supremacy, with a resurgent Daniele Bennati (Liquigas), ever-foxy Oscar
Freire (Rabobank), Greg Van Avermaet (Silence-Lotto), Erik Zabel
(Milram) and Danilo Napolitano (Lampre) as contenders. And will
CSC-Saxo Bank's JJ Haedo confirm his talent or continue to be a bust in
Europe?
The 63rd Vuelta a España begins Saturday August
30th with a 7km Team Time Trial in the shadow of Granada's famous
Alhambra castle and finishes in Madrid on Sunday, September 21st after
3134km, with eight mountain stages (including the terrible Angliru), a
42.5km ITT in Ciudad Real and a decisive 17.1 km uphill ITT La Granja
de San Ildefonso to the Alto de Navacerrada on the penultimate Stage
20. After the TT in Granada, the next three stages are likely to be
fast, hot sprinters specials, then there is a flat 42.5km ITT in Ciudad
Real. After another fat stage to Toledo, there is a transfer and rest
day in to Andorra, then three difficult days of climbing days in the
Pyrenees. Stage 7 is a 224km romp from Barbastro to the mountaintop
finish in Andorra (Naturlandia - La Rabassa), then more climbing the
next day from Andorra to Pla de Beret. The final Pyrenees stage is #9,
198km from Viella to Sabiñánigo with plenty of climbing.
Stages 10,11 and 12 head west to Burgos, with a second rest day in
Suances. The trouble starts on Saturday September 13, with the 199km
Stage 13 from San Vicente de la Barquera to finish atop Alto de
L'Angliru, one of the most brutal climbs in cycling. The final ascent
is before two Cat. 3 ascents and two Cat. 1 climbs!
The next day on Stage 14 from Oviedo, there is another mountaintop
finish to the ski resort of E. E. Fuentes de Invierno. The next three
stages head southeast towards the Spanish capital of Madrid, with Stage
19 finishing in Pedro Delgado's hometown of Segovia. Then Saturday's
Stage 20's climbing ITT up the steep, narrow ascent up the Alto de
Navacerrada may determine who finally wins the 63rd Vuelta a España The
final stage into Madrid is for sprinters only, from Johan Bruyneel's
adopted hometown S. Sebastian de los Reyes to finish right in the
center of Madrid on the Paseo del Prado near the famous art museum.
For further info, visit the Vuelta a España's website here |
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