Tomorrow the 73rd Tour of Spain will start in Malaga. The 3rd biggest round of the season promises to be an exciting battle this year. Below you can read why and what we can expect.

‘ Vuelta’ most of the time is the last chance for the favorites when they failed in Tour or Giro.

That is the reason why this Vuelta will be exiting. Riders like Aru, Simon Yates or Thibault Pinot had a terrible Giro. In the Tour of France Uran & Quintana failed, Porte felt and had to abandon.

Froome won TDF, Vuelta & Giro and became 3th in his last Tour de France this summer. He will take a rest and also Geraint Thomas will not be there tomorrow at the start. Bernal had to be the leader of the team but he fell in the Classica and broke his vertebra. That is important because now team Sky starts without a really leader and will they be strong enough now to control the race? I don’t think so.

Another reason why the Vuelta is more exiting is the fact that riders are willing to take more risk and attact faster. In the TDF, they are more calculated and a 5th place is also important where in the Tour of Spain they are only happy with the victory, so they take more risk.

My favorite is Quintana. What is yours?

Another reason why this Vuelta can show spectacle is the fact that many talented young riders are there in Malaga. Some of them fail but some of them are able to ride top 10. My bets are on these 2 from Quick Step Floors:

Laurens De Plus will get a free role this year together with his teammate Enric Mas. Enric Mas had the Spanish Nationality and people believe he is the young version of Alberto Contador. This season he had a very good Tour of Swiss and starts full of confidence in the race.

• Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Sky): Made a good impression in the Dauphiné where he was working like crazy for Geraint Thomas. Tao won in the youth leagues on different trails. Seems like Sky have a diamond in the team …

• Sepp Kuss (Lotto-Jumbo): Won 3 races ( hillstages) in tour of Utah. Started in the field but now on the streets.

• Bjorg Lambrecht (Lotto-Soudal): Will quit the race after 2weeks. He is here to prepare the World Championship later this year with the U20 competition. The Belgium rider has a good chance to be on the podium.

Last but not least, we have Peter Sagan who races again in the Vuelta since 2015. He won already 4 stages. Three reasons according to me.

1. Preparation climbing World Championship

2. Almost no top sprinters at the start

3. In 2015 he fell due to a motorcycle and was pissed about it. See movie below

What about the trails this year?

In the TDF, many races are boring. In the Vuelta you don’t have it. Every day you have some points where you can win or lose the stage. For example the 12th stage could be a stage for the sprinters but the last kilometer is only 1.5m width so can be dangerous but also full of spectacle.

Who will win 12th stage? Yes, Peter Sagan :o)

8 stages have a finish on top of a hill, already 2 in the first week. This year we have some climbs with 22 – 24% gradients. Freaky, isn’t it?

I ride my bike a lot and I can assure you, many people does this by walking!

For sure, the persons who built the stages know how to give the supporters spectacle.

I’m looking forward to start the race. It starts with a timetrail. Campenaerts might be close or Kung ?

Who do you think will win the Vuelta? My bet: Quintana

Thank you my dear readers