MADRID, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain) cycle race will begin in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon on Saturday, ahead of three weeks of racing in which the only certainty is there won't be much joy for specialist sprinters.
Just one of the 21 stages in the 2024 Vuelta is designed for sprinters, with the race containing two individual time-trial stages, eight high mountain stages, five in medium mountains, and five over "rolling terrain."
The race is also marked by who isn't in the race as by who is going to be in Spain over the next three weeks.
The all-conquering Tadej Pogacar (Team UAE Emirates) is resting after winning a stunning Giro d'Italia and Tour de France double, and although the absence of a rider of such stature is always a disappointment, it also serves to open up the race for other riders.
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) is also missing out, along with 2022 Vuelta winner Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) after his historic Olympic gold medal double.
Pogacar's UAE teammate Juan Ayuso is also out, which means that Adam Yates will be the general classification (GC) rider for their team, while Evenepoel's absence gives a chance to the talented, but inconsistent Mikel Landa to either go for GC or look for stage wins.
Without Vingegaard, last year's champion, Sepp Kuss will lead Visma-Lease a Bike, and he has a powerful team to back him up, containing Wout van Aert, who will probably also look for stage wins and Stefan Kriujswijk, who can give invaluable support in the mountains.
Kuss missed the Tour due to COVID-19 but looks to be back to full fitness for the Vuelta after winning the five-stage Vuelta a Burgos last week.
Ricard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) can handle the hilly terrain well, while Enric Mas at Movistar needs to produce something to justify his position as team leader after underperforming again at the Tour.
It has been a complicated season for INEOS-Grenadiers, but Carlos Rodriguez should mount a podium challenge on home ground.
Primoz Roglic travels to Spain after a difficult year, which saw him sidelined after a bad fall in the Basque region in April and then forced to withdraw from the Tour after two falls in two days.
The three times Vuelta winner would be a favorite under other circumstances, but his lack of form going into a hugely unforgiving race has to be an issue, especially as he didn't compete in the Clasica San Sebastian on Saturday. ■
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