Vuelta a Espana 2013 : Stage 3 Preview

STAGE 2 answered a few of the questions about who is or isn't in form.

And in the case of Sammy Sanchez and Sergio Henao the answer is clearly that they are not in form.

Both were distanced on the final climb and rolled in 2.41 behind stage winner Nicolas Roche.

As it is still so early in the race neither man can be considered out of contention for the overall win but both now find themselves in the 'very unlikely' category.

Another Colombian Carlos Alberto Betancur finished in the 'bus' losing just under 10 minutes, proving that, as expected, the illness and lack of racing means he will not be a contender for the overall victory.

They will hope for a quiet day hidden in the peloton as they lick their wounds and try to regain some form.

And for the most part they should find it. Stage three runs 184.8km  from Vigo to Mirador de Lobiera and follows a fairly flattish route around Galicia.

The finish however takes the riders up a cat 3 climb starting around 4km from the finish.

Their are a couple of tricky bends just before the finish which people will want to get into first.

It is very similar finish to what you find in most classic races in Northern Europe, maybe without the extreme steepness.

It will lend itself to the opportunists and classic riders as well as those sprinters who can go up hill fairly well.

This would mean the likes of Gianni Meersman of Omega-Pharma-Quickstep and Janse van Renesburg of Argos-Shimano.

Both finished in the bus today but both will have had one eye on tomorrow.

From the classic riders point of view there are a few potential winners, including the new race leader.

If it was a bad day for Sanchez and Henao then it was a good day for Vincenzo Nibali who has inherited the leaders red jersey from his team mate Janez Brajkovic.

The Italian finished in the front group and now leads Roche by 8 seconds.

Tomorrow's finish would normally be ideal for a rider like him. However he may be more content with just shadowing his rivals, people like Alejandro Valverde who is also suited to this type of finish. 

Saxo Tinkoff will look to make it two wins from two as Chris Anker Sorensen is more than capable of jumping away here. If not Chris Anker then look to young Pole Rafal Majka.

But for a bit of outsider I quite like the look of BMC pair Ivan Santoromita and Dominik Nerz. The finish does suit someone outside of the main contenders so Nerz, who is quick and can get up a climb, should be near the front.

If not Nerz then his Italian team mate Santoromita may get the nod. He will like this finish and finished comfortably in the main group today. Not a major challenger of Nibali yet so may be given a small amount of freedom.

It shouldn't see a change in the leaders jersey unless Astana want to give it away. If they do then a break has a chance of making it.

Mind I could be way out as, much like the riders, I am just finding my feet in this Tour!

Vuelta a Espana - Stage 1 & Overall Preview

Just five weeks after Chris Froome raised his arms in triumph on the Champs-Elysees, the final grand tour of the year kicks off in the North West corner of Spain.

The Vuelta a Espana is probably the lesser of the three grand tours but it is possibly the toughest. Where the Tour de France had seven flat stages, the Vuelta has only six. 11 medium & high mountain stages in France are replaced by 13 in Spain.

The Vuelta will also see 39 mountain passes including some like the Alto de L'Angrilu, a 12.2 km long climb with an average gradient of 10.2% and a staggering maximum of 23.5%.

All in all it means a hard, tough but wide open race.

Giro d'Italia winner Vincenzo Nibali leads the potential winners but has company in the likes of Alejandro Valverde, Joaquin Rodriguez, Sammy Sanchez, Carlos Betancur and Sergio Henao.

This is by no means an exhaustive list because the likes of Domenico Pozzovivo, Rigoberto Uran, Mikel Nieve, Igor Anton, Jacob Fuglsang, Bauke Mollema, Laurens Ten Dam, David Arroyo, Ivan Basso, Thibault Pinot, Dan Martin, Michele Scarponi, Roman Kreuziger and Rafal Majka are all more than capable of recording a top 10 place, or higher.

A lot will depend on riders form. Some like Valverde and Rodriguez have come out of the Tour so questions exist in whether they have kept their fitness up. Others like Betancur and Nibali haven't raced much, or in Betancur's case at all, since the Giro so may be a little race rusty to begin with.

As I sit here now I cannot pick a winner, it is that open.

It is possibly why the organisers have thrown a difficult start at the peloton. The first chance for the sprinters doesn't appear until stage six. There are summit finishes which should stretch the time gaps out and give the GC guys plenty to aim at.

It all starts though with an evening Team Time Trial over 27.4km. Last year Movistar took the honours and have come to the Vuelta with a very strong team so it would be a massive surprise to see them out of the top three.

Other potential winners will be Garmin-Sharp and Orica Green-Edge who shocked everyone by winning the TTT in the Tour.

For me though Team Saxo Tinkoff look like the boys to beat. Kreuziger, Majka, have also got a strong team behind them with the likes of Nicolas Roche, Chris Anker-Sorensen and Nicki Sorensen and should put in a very strong performance.

It will be an interesting start to what should be a fascinating tour.