The last of the grand tours starts this Saturday, August 20th. Last years winner, Vincenzo Nibali, looks to repeat his Vuelta win, but I think the competition is a little stiffer this year. The race organizers made this race ideal for a pure climber and have included the Angliru, which the riders will suffer on during stage 15, along with several other tough mountain top finishes during the three week race. They also put a big mountain stage in the first week, when the Sierra Nevada is climbed during stage 4 -- something to break the norm.
After being left out of the tour, Geox - with Menchov and Sastre have something to prove. Radio Shack are bringing Brajkovic and Kloden who both crashed out of the tour. Depending on how they have recovered I think both have a chance to contend for the overall. Wiggins, who also crashed out of the tour, will ride the Vuelta. As far as pure climbers go, I like Rodriguez and Igor Anton.
So what are your predictions? Certainly seems to be several riders who can contend for the overall, but some may still have lingering effects from accidents in the tour.
Podium:
1) Rodriguez
2) Brajkovic
3) Nibali
Notables: Kloden, Wiggins, Scarponi, Menchov, Van den Broek, Anton, Kruijswijk, among others
We also get to see Sagan and Phinney in some Grand Tour action!