Some of the biggest names in cycling are listed on the provisional start list for the Vuelta a España, which appears to have really benefited from the later hosting of the world road race championship this year. Top sprinters Mark Cavendish (HTC Columbia), Thor Hushovd (Cervélo Test Team), Tyler Farrar (Garmin Slipstream), Daniele Bennati (Liquigas), Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and Juan Jose Haedo (Saxo Bank) are due to take part, as is Tour de France green jersey Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre –Farnese Vini), providing his disciplinary hearing with CONI doesn’t prevent his starting.
These will be using the race to prepare for the world road race championships in Geelong, which is tipped by some observers as being straightforward enough to result in a sprint finish.
Providing Cavenidish goes all the way to Madrid, he is in with the chance of winning his first ever points jersey in a Grand Tour. Last year his HTC Columbia team achieved that goal with Andre Greipel, but the well-publicised tension between himself and Cavendish has led to his non-selection this time round.
Greipel is likely to be unimpressed with this, particularly as it could interfere with his chances of becoming world champion, but he will be able to dictate his own race programme next year as undisputed top sprinter with the Omega Pharma Lotto team.
Cavendish’s greatest challenge is likely to come from Farrar and Hushovd, who both will feel they have a point to prove after the Tour. The American rider crashed and broke his wrist, battling onwards until the pain got too bad, and picked up placings of second and third in the process. Hushovd broke his collarbone earlier this year and went into the race lacking his usual top-end speed, yet might have won the green jersey had Fabian Cancellara and others not succeeded in having stage two neutralised. He had made it into the front group, unlike Cavendish and Petacchi.
The list of general classification contenders is certainly far from shabby; Tour de France runner-up Andy Schleck and his brother Frank (Saxo Bank) are each undoubtedly strong enough to win their first Grand Tour, while double Vuelta winner Denis Menchov (Rabobank) will line out after his best-ever finish in the Tour de France. He was third there and historically has been stronger in the second half of the Tour-Vuelta combination. Depending on how his rivals fare, he could end up with the fourth Grand Tour victor of his career.
There are several others who also must be taken into consideration. A glancing at the start list reveals that Christian Vande Velde is not listed for the race, but that’s an error; on top form, he could be a serious rival to the other contenders.
The Vuelta organisers mistakenly named his Garmin Transitions team-mate Riccardo Van Der Velde as being set to take part, but VeloNation has confirmed that this is an error and that his elder namesake would indeed be riding. He will be aided by Tom Danielson, who showed promising form in the recent Tour of Poland.
Liquigas-Doimo has a very impressive lineup, with Roman Kreuziger and Vincenzo Nibali leading the charge and Franco Pellizotti listed as a reserve. Whether or not the latter rides, the other two are strong enough to fight for overall honours, and cannot be discounted.
The same must be said of 2008 Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre. He’s never won the Vuelta but when he’s on top form, he’s one of the best climbers in the sport and this year’s race is all about the mountains. The Cervélo Test Team rider will be riding the third Grand Tour of his season, however, and so everything will depend on how he has recovered from the Giro and the Tour.
Several other contenders haven’t yet stood on the podium in a three week race, yet could make a breakthrough this season. Team Katusha’s Joaquin Rodriguez is currently sitting second overall in the UCI’s world rankings and with Alberto Contador not taking part in the Vuelta, a strong general classification performance could see him move to the top of those standings. He finished eighth in the Tour and could be an outside bet for top three in Spain.
So too Ezequiel Mosquera, who has placed fourth once and fifth twice and will once again lead the Xacobeo Galicia team.
Others who must be watched include Giro star David Arroyo (Caisse d’Epargne) and his team-mate Luis Leon Sanchez, Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Ireland’s Nicolas Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale), who was thirteenth two years ago and who finished fifteenth in this year’s Tour. If he’s kept his form, he could be fighting for a place in the top six.
Stage hunters:
Sprinters and general classification contenders aside, the provisional start list also throws up an impressive list of riders who could fight it out for stage wins. That too underlines the quality of the field for this year’s Vuelta, and shows that it should be closer in standard to the two other Grand Tours.
Those who we feel could challenge for stages include Fabian Cancellara (Team Saxo Bank), Simon Gerrans and Juan Antonio Flecha (Team Sky), Dauphine star Tejay Van Garderen and Kanstantsin Siutsou (HTC Columbia), Philippe Gilbert and Greg Van Avermaet (Omega Pharma Lotto), Stijn Devolder (Quick Step), David Moncoutie and Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Manuel Cardoso (Footon-Servetto), David Millar and Dave Zabriskie (Garmin Transitions), Andrey Kashechkin (Lampre-Farnese Vini), former Tour de France winner Oscar Pereiro and team-mate Allan Davis (Astana), Philip Deignan (Cervélo Test Team), Rinaldo Nocentini and Christophe Riblon (both Ag2r La Mondiale), José Angel Gomez Marchante, Alexandr Kolobnev and Filippo Pozzato (Team Katusha).
A dizzing list of names? We think so too, and that’s the point; the Vuelta has been criticised before for being a lesser Grand Tour, but this time, that dismissal doesn’t seem relevant at all. The start list may be a provisional one but if it is reflective of those who will ultimately take the start in Sevilla on August 28th, then a ferocious pre-Worlds battle is in store.
Note: last year’s winner Alejandro Valverde is currently suspended and so the number one dossard won’t go to the defending champion. Instead, Cervélo’s Iñigo Cuesta’s has been awarded the prestigious race number, in recognition of the 41 year old’s record 17 consecutive appearances in the race.
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Provisional lineup :
CERVELO TEST TEAM (CTT):
CUESTA LOPEZ DE CASTRO Iñigo
BOS Theo
DEIGNAN Philip
DENIFL Stefan
FLORENCIO CABRE Xavier
HAMMOND Roger
HUSHOVD Thor
SASTRE CANDIL Carlos
TONDO VOLPINI Xavier
R LANCASTER Brett
R PUJOL MUNOZ Oscar
AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM) :
ROCHE Nicolas IRL
ARRIETA LUJAMBIO José Luis
BONNAFOND Guillaume
DUPONT Hubert FRA
HINAULT Sébastien
KADRI Biel
NOCENTINI Rinaldo
RIBLON Christophe
TURPIN Ludovic
R DESSEL Cyril
R GODDAERT Kristof
R KRIVTSOV Yuriy
R LOUBET Julien
R SMUKULIS Gatis
ANDALUCIA-CAJASUR (AND) :
GOMEZ MARCHANTE José Angel
CALVENTE CORBAS Manuel
CARRASCO GARCIA Sergio
ESTRADA RUIZ Juan Javier
MORENO BAZAN Javier
ORTEGA OCANA Manuel
PIEDRA PEREZ Antonio
RAMIREZ ABEJA Javier
TORIBIO ALCOLEA Jose Vicente
R CABELLO BAENA Antonio
R LECHUGA RODRIGUEZ Pablo
R MONTENEGRO Jorge Martin
BBOX BOUYGUES TELECOM (BTL):
BICHOT Freddy
BONNET William
GENE Yohann
JEROME Vincent
PICHOT Alexandre
QUEMENEUR Perrig
ROLLAND Pierre
SPRICK Matthieu
VOGONDY Nicolas
R BERNAUDEAU Giovanni
R LEFEVRE Laurent
R TSCHOPP Johann
CAISSE D'EPARGNE (GCE) :
ARROYO DURAN David
BRUSEGHIN Marzio
ERVITI Imanol
GARCIA ACOSTA José Vicente
LOPEZ GARCIA David
PASAMONTES RODRIGUEZ Luis
PLAZA MOLINA Ruben
SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon
URAN URAN Rigoberto
R COBO ACEBO Juan Jose
R LASTRAS GARCIA Pablo
R LOSADA ALGUACIL Alberto
R PEREZ SANCHEZ Francisco
R SOLER HERNANDEZ Juan Mauricio
R ZANDIO ECHAIDE Xabier
COFIDIS, LE CREDIT EN LIGNE (COF) :
DUMOULIN Samuel
GALLOPIN Tony
KERN Christophe
LABBE Arnaud
MONCOUTIE David
PAURIOL Rémi
SIJMENS Nico
TAARAMAE Rein
ZINGLE Romain
R BUFFAZ Mickaël
R CUSIN Rémi
R ISTA Kevin
R MINARD Sébastien
EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI (EUS) :
ANTON HERNANDEZ Igor
FERNANDEZ Koldo
INTXAUSTI ELORRIAGA Benat
MARTINEZ DE ESTEBAN Egoi
NIEVE ITURALDE Mikel
OROZ UGALDE Juan Jose
TXURRUKA Amets
URTASUN PEREZ Pablo
VERDUGO MARCOTEGUI Gorka
R ARAMENDIA LORENTE Javier
R PEREZ LEZAUN Alan
FOOTON-SERVETTO (FOT) :
BENITEZ ROMAN Jose Alberto
CARDOSO Manuel Antonio Leal
CHEULA Giampaolo
DURAN DAROCA Arkaitz
GUTIERREZ David
MATA Enrique
PEREZ ARRIETA Aitor
VALLS FERRI Rafael
VITORIA David SUI
R BRANDLE Matthias
R CELIS ZABALA Vidal
R PEDERSEN Martin
R WALKER Johnnie
FRANÇAISE DES JEUX (FDJ) :
LE MEVEL Christophe
BONNAIRE Olivier
CAZAUX Pierre FRA
CHAVANEL Sébastien
CHEREL Mikael
HUTAROVICH Yauheni
MEERSMAN Gianni
OFFREDO Yoann
VICHOT Arthur
R DI GREGORIO Rémy
R GERARD Arnaud
R VEIKKANEN Jussi
GARMIN - SLIPSTREAM (GRM):
DANIELSON Thomas
DEAN Julian
FARRAR Tyler
KREDER Michel
MEIER Christian
MILLAR David
VAN DER VELDE Ricardo
WILSON Matthew
ZABRISKIE David
R KESSIAKOFF Fredrik
R PETERSON Thomas
R STETINA Peter
LAMPRE-FARNESE VINI (LAM) :
PETACCHI Alessandro
BOLE Grega
HONDO Danilo
KASHECHKIN Andrey
LORENZETTO Mirco
MARZANO Marco
MORI Manuele
PIETROPOLLI Daniele
RIGHI Daniele
R BUTS Vitaliy
R DA DALTO Mauro
R FURLAN Angelo
R ULISSI Diego
LIQUIGAS-DOIMO (LIQ) :
BENNATI Daniele
FINETTO Mauro
GUARNIERI Jacopo
KISERLOVSKI Robert
KREUZIGER Roman
NIBALI Vincenzo
SABATINI Fabio
SANTAROMITA Ivan
WILLEMS Frederik
R PATERSKI Maciej
R PELLIZOTTI Franco
R VANOTTI Alessandro
R ZAUGG Oliver
OMEGA PHARMA-LOTTO (OLO) :
BAKELANDTS Jan
BRANDT Christophe
DELAGE Mickael
GILBERT Philippe
HOSTE Leif
KAISEN Olivier
PERAUD Jean-Christophe
VAN AVERMAET Greg
VANENDERT Jelle
R ELIJZEN Michiel
R MORENO FERNANDEZ Daniel
R SCHEIRLINCKX Staf
R VAN GOOLEN Jurgen
QUICK STEP (QST):
BARREDO LLAMAZALES Carlos
CATALDO Dario
DE WEERT Kevin
DEVOLDER Stijn
MALACARNE Davide
SAMOLLAU Branislau
STAUFF Andreas
TOSATTO Matteo
WEYLANDT Wouter
R BOONEN Tom
R ENGELS Addy
R HULSMANS Kevin
R MAES Nikolas
RABOBANK (RAB):
ARDILA CANO Mauricio
FREIRE GOMEZ Oscar
GARATE Juan Manuel
KOZONTCHUK Dmitry
LANGEVELD Sebastian
MARTENS Paul
MENCHOV Denis
TEN DAM Laurens
WEENING Pieter
R NIERMANN Grischa
R NUYENS Nick
R POSTHUMA Joost
R STAMSNIJDER Tom
SKY PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM (SKY):
T AUGUSTYN John-Lee
T CARLSTRÖM Kjell
T FLECHA GIANNONI Juan Antonio
T GERRANS Simon
T KENNAUGH Peter
T LÖVKVIST Thomas
T NORDHAUG Lars Petter
T STANNARD Ian
T SWIFT Ben
R CIONI Dario David
R FROOME Christopher
R HENDERSON Greg
R SUTTON Christopher
R VIGANO Davide
TEAM HTC - COLUMBIA (THR):
BAK Lars Ytting
CAVENDISH Mark
EISEL Bernhard
GOSS Matthew Harley
ROULSTON Hayden
SIUTSOU Kanstantsin
VAN GARDEREN Tejay
VELITS Martin
VELITS Peter
R ALBASINI Michael
R MONFORT Maxime
R PINOTTI Marco
R RABON Frantisek
TEAM KATHUSA (KAT):
RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin
CARUSO Gianpaolo
GALIMZYANOV Denis
GUSEV Vladimir
HORRACH RIPPOLL Joan
KARPETS Vladimir
KOLOBNEV Alexandr
PETROV Evgeny
POZZATO Filippo
R ESKOV Nikita
R IGNATIEV Mikhail
R NAPOLITANO Danilo
R TRUSOV Nikolay
R VORGANOV Eduard
TEAM MILRAM (MRM):
FORSTER Robert
FOTHEN Markus
NERZ Dominique
ROELS Dominik
RUSS Matthias
SCHRÖDER Björn
SENTJENS Roy
TERPSTRA Niki
VOSS Paul
R CIOLEK Gerald
R DE VOCHT Wim
R EICHLER Markus
R FRÖHLINGER Johannes
R WROLICH Peter
TEAM SAXO BANK (SAX):
LUND Anders
CANCELLARA Fabian
COOKE Baden
HAEDO Juan José
KLEMME Domenik
LARSSON Gustav
O'GRADY Stuart
SCHLECK Andy
SCHLECK Frank
R KLOSTERGAARD LARSEN Kasper
R STEENSEN André
XACOBEO GALICIA (XAC) :
MOSQUERA MIGUEZ Ezequiel
CESAR VELOSO Gustavo
FERNANDEZ CRUZ Delio
GARCIA DAPENA David ESP
GARCIA FERNANDEZ Marcos
ISAICHEV Vladimir
MARTINEZ Serafin
RABUÑAL RIOS Gonzalo
RODRIGUEZ IGLESIAS Gustavo
R DOMINGUEZ LEMOS Gustavo
R PACHECO TORRES Francisco Jose
R = reserve