On the 25th of August 2018, the 73rd edition of the Vuelta a Espana will be held. The three week grand tour cycling stage race is the final grand tour of the 2018 cycling season with the race schedule to start in the coastal city of Melaga and finish on September 16 in Madrid.
This year’s race will have the riders race over 3,300 kilometers with nine mountain finishes along the three weeks of riding, with the first mountains stage being held on the second day of the Vuelta.
Last year’s winner of the race was Chris Froome, who was the first cyclist to take out the overall winner of the Vuelta, after having won the Tour de France earlier in the year. His victory was overshadowed with controversy though as he provided a positive drug sample where he exceeded the permitted levels of salbutamol in his system. The World Anti-Doping Agency did rule that his results were not in breach of anti doping regulations and his victory was able to stand. It’s still not confirmed if Froome will be racing this years event, since he did already race both the Giro d’Italia and Tour De France earlier this year.
This doesn’t mean the race will be an easy one. Even though the start list for the race has not been finalized, some of the world’s top riders are wanting to make amends for disappointing performances at the Tour De France. This includes Richie Porte, Vincenzo Nibali, Simon Yates and Fabio Aru, who will all be in contention for overall honours, making it an interesting tour and I don’t think we’ll see a clear winner until late in the third week of the race.
I am hoping to give the low down on each of the race stages with limited delay in time. As I am in the Southern Hemisphere I hope I can get it out in a timely manner and hope I am not biting off too much.
The next time you’ll be hearing from me will be after stage one of the Vuelta, where it begins with an 8km individual time trial in Malaga. It is mostly a flat course, but will offer a strain to the riders on the first day as it does have a tough uphill near the halfway point of the course.
If you are looking for a more indepth view of the route, it can be found here:
https://www.strava.com/routes/14948319
Even a week out from the race, the start list is far from complete, but this is what we are seeing so far:
Team Sunweb
BAUHAUS Phil
GESCHKE Simon
HINDLEY Jai
FRÖHLINGER Johannes
KELDERMAN Wilco
STORER Michael
TEUNISSEN Mike
TUSVELD Martijn
Lotto Soudal
DE GENDT Thomas
MARCZYNSKI Tomasz
BENOOT Tiesj
LAMBRECHT Bjorg
ARMÉE Sander
MONFORT Maxime
VAN DER SANDE Tosh
WALLAYS Jelle
BMC Racing Team
CARUSO Damiano
VAN GARDEREN Tejay
TEUNS Dylan
PORTE Richie
DENNIS Rohan
Team LottoNL-Jumbo
KRUIJSWIJK Steven
VAN POPPEL Danny
BENNETT George
DE TIER Floris
CLEMENT Stef
KUSS Sepp
Astana Pro Team
LOPEZ Miguel Angel
FRAILE Omar
STALNOV Nikita
FUGLSANG Jakob Diemer
Mitchelton-Scott
YATES Simon
YATES Adam
HAIG Jack
Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team
IZAGIRRE Ion
VISCONTI Giovanni
NIBALI Vincenzo
Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
AMEZQUETA Julen
ARANBURU Alex
IRISARRI Jon
LASTRA Jonathan
MAS Lluís Guillermo
MOLINA Antonio
OIEN Justin
PARDILLA Sergio
RODRÍGUEZ Cristian
SCHULTZ Nick
SILVA Joaquim
SOTO Nelson Andres
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
MATÉ Luis Ángel
HERRADA José
BOUHANNI Nacer
Burgos-BH
BOL Jetse
Trek - Segafredo
GUERREIRO Ruben
NIZZOLO Giacomo
MOLLEMA Bauke
Quick-Step Floors
MAS Enric
DE PLUS Laurens
Groupama - FDJ
PINOT Thibaut
BORA - hansgrohe
BUCHMANN Emanuel
KENNAUGH Peter
SAGAN Peter
SAGAN Juraj
PÖSTLBERGER Lukas
FORMOLO Davide
MAJKA Rafał
MCCARTHY Jay
SCHWARZMANN Michael
Team Katusha - Alpecin
RESTREPO Jhonatan
ZAKARIN Ilnur
CRAS Steff
BOSWELL Ian
LAMMERTINK Maurits
Team Sky
DE LA CRUZ David
KWIATKOWSKI Michal
GEOGHEGAN HART Tao
Movistar Team
VALVERDE Alejandro
OLIVEIRA Nelson
QUINTANA Nairo
Team EF Education First-Drapac (Cannondale)
URAN Rigoberto
ROLLAND Pierre
WOODS Michael
UAE-Team Emirates
ARU Fabio
BYSTRØM Sven Erik