2013 Vuelta de España Route

Contador wins his Second Vuelta de Espana

Alberto Contador wrapped up his fifth Grand Tour win on the streets on Madrid. The Spaniard won by 1:16 over compatriot Alejandro Valverde and showed the peloton he is back in business. Valverde snatched the  points classification off Joaquim Rodríguez as well as the combination classification on the final day. Joaquim Rodríguez seems to be making it a habit to lose jerseys on the final day. Simon Clarke became just the second Australian to win a Grand Tour KOM jersey after he secured the polka dots on Stage 20. The Orica-GreenEdge Vuelta didn't go particularly to plan with Alan Davis narrowly missing stage wins but Clarke's efforts more than make up for close finishes.

Final General Classification Standings at the 2012 Vuelta de Espana

Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) 84:59:49
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) + 1:16
Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha + 1:37
Chris Froome (Sky) + 10:16
Daniel Moreno (Katusha) + 11:29

Audacious Contador Takes Control

Alberto Contador make a successful break to win the stage and take over the GC from Purito. Contador had looked like a shadow of his former self after the months off the bike for his doping suspension. No matter how hard he tried, he seemed unable to shake off his competitors and ride away like he has so many times before.  Contador won his third Vuelta stage which just about ensures he will  ride into Madrid wearing red.

Froome's GC hope dashed on Queen Stage

Chris Froome couldn't match the pace set by Alberto Contador and co on Stage 16 and now sits almost 5 minutes behind Rodriguez in fourth place. Alejandro Valverde was the big winner on the stage as a podium position now looks like it's his to lose. Italian Dario Cataldo won the queen stage on the steep ramps of Cuiti Negru for the biggest win of his career. Rodriguez now looks to be in the box seat for his maiden Grand Tour win which would go some way to erase the disappointment of losing the Giro on the final day earlier this year.

Stage 16 Results

Dario Cataldo (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 5:18:28

Thomas De Gendt (Vancansoleil-DCM) +7'

Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) +2:39'

Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +2:41'

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +2:58'

General Classification

Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) 63:38:24

Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +28'

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +2:04'

Chris Froome (Sky) +4:52'

Daniel Moreno (Katusha) +6:58'

Vuelta Standings: Stage 15

With two out of the three consecutive mountain stages completed tonight’s Stage 16 may see the leaders jersey change hands. Joaquím Rodríguez held on after numerous attacks by Alberto Contador to continue his stint in red. He leads Contador by 22 seconds and Alejandro Valverde by 1:41 minutes. Chris Froome has dropped off the pace to sit 2:16 minutes down in fourth place with the Tour de France and Olympics appearing to have taken their toll on the Sky rider.

The Four Amigos

After nine days of racing and several GC stages four contenders have risen to the top. In the red jersey is 2012 Giro runner up Joaquim Rodriguez who leads past Vuelta winners Alejandro Valverde and Alberto Contador but it is the 2011 runner up Chris Froome in second place. On three stages so far the top three has been a combination of these four riders. Once the roads have gone up, these four have come to the front and ridden away from the peloton. Valverde has three stage wins after his Movistar team won the opening TTT in Pamplona before outsprinting Rodríguez to take two individual stages. Of the four, Froome and Contador are the best places due to their time trialling prowess. However with Froome at 53 seconds and Contador at 1 minute to Rodríguez, they will need to put serious time into the Katusha rider on the only ITT of the race. Valverde has been the main protagonist in the opening nine stages followed by Rodríguez who also has a stage win to his name but expect Froome and Contador to take it up a notch in the next few days.

Current Race Leaders and Results: Aug 20th-25th

Vuelta de España 
18th August-9th September 

Stage 1 (TTT): Movistar 18:51
                                Omega Pharma-Quick Step +10
                                Rabobank +10 

Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar)  18:51

Stage 2: John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano)  4:38:40

                  Alan Davis (Orica-GreenEdge) st
                  Ben Swift (Team Sky) st 
Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar) 4:57:31 

Stage 3: Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) 3:49:37
                 Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) st
                 Chris Froome (Team Sky) st 
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) 8:46:56  

Stage 4: Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) 4:30:26
                Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick Step)+02
                Assan Bazayev (Astana) +22
Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) 13:18:45

Stage 5: John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) 4:10:37
                  Danielle Bennati (RadioShack-Nissan) st
                  Gianni Meersman (Lotto-Belisol) st
Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) 17:29:22

Stage 6: Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) 4:35:22
                 Chris Froome (Sky) +5
                 Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +10
Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) 22:04:32

Stage 7: John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) 3:48:30
                  Elia Viviani (Liquigas-Cannondale) st
                  Allan Davis (Orica-GreenEdge) st
Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) 25:53:04

Stage 8: Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) 4:06:39
                  Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) st
                  Alberto Cntador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) st
Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) 29:59:35

Stage 9: Philippe Gilbert (BMC) 4:45: 28
                  Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) st
                 Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) +7                  
Joaquím Rodríguez (Katusha) 24:44:55

USA Pro Cycling Challenge
August 20th -26th

Stage 1: Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) 4:42:48 
                 Alessandro Bazzana (Team Type 1-Sanofi) st
                 Damiano Caruso (BMC) st

Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) 4:42:48 

Stage 2: Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) 3:52:24
                 Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp) st
                 Ivan Rovny +6
Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) 8:35:12

Stage 3: Tom Danielson (Garmin-Sharp) 5:02:06
                  Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale) +02
                 Jakob Fugsang  (RadioShack-Nissan) st
Christian Vande Velde 13:37:20

Stage 4: Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) 3:54:00
                 Andreas Kloden (RadioShack-Nissan) +2:58
                 Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) st
Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) 17:34:18

Stage 5: Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) 3:58:27
                 Taylor Phinney (BMC) st
                 Alessandro Bazzana (Team Type 1-Sanofi) st
Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) 21:32:45

Stage 6: Rory Sutherland (United Healthcare) 4:06:12         
                  Fabio Aru (Astana) +20
                  Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) +26
Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) 25:39:50

Stage 7: Taylor Phinney (BMC) 17:25
                  Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp) +10
                  Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) +19
Overall GC: Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp) 25:57:34
points classification: Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) 33 points
mountains classification: Jens Voigt (RadioShack-Nissan) 55 points                  
team classification: RadioShack-Nissan 77:52:16

Tour of Denmark

August 22nd-27th

Stage 1: Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 4:55:06

                 Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) st

                 Theo Bos (Rabobank) st  
Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 4:55:06

Stage 2: Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 5:12:22
                  Michael Van Staeyen (Topsport Vlaanderen-Mercator) st
                  Steele Von Hoff (Garmin-Sharp) st
Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) 10:07:08

Stage 3: Lars-Petter Nordhaug (Sky) 4:43:01
                  Wilco Kelderman (Rabobank) st
                  Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Sharp) st
Lars-Petter Nordhaug (Sky) 14:50:19

Stage 4: Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) 2:02:35
                  Andrew Fenn (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) st
                  Theo Bos (Rabobank) st
Lars-Petter Nordhaug (Sky) 16:52:54

Stage 5: Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) 16:36
                 Geraint Thomas (Sky) +18
                 Manuele Boaro (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) +21
Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) 17:09:51

Stage 6: Mark Cavendish (Sky) 3:31:56
                  Matteo Pelucchi (Europcar) st
                  Andre Greipel (Lotto-Bellisol) st
Final GC: Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) 20:41:47
points classification: Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) 44 points
mountains classifiction: Nikola Aistrup (Concordia Forsikring-Himmerland) 84 points
young rider: Wilco Kelderman (Rabobank) 20:42:18

Tour du Poitou Charentes

August 21st-25th

Stage 1: Aidis Kruopis (Orica-GreenEdge) 4:41:54

                 Yauheni Hutarovich (FDJ-BigMat) st

                 Evaldas Siskevicius (La Pomme Marseille) st

Aidis Kruopis (Orica-GreenEdge) 4:41:54

Stage 2: Aidis Kruopis (Orica-GreenEdge) 5:08:53

                 Adrien Petit (Cofidis) st

                 Yauheni Hutarovich (FDJ-BigMat) st

Aidis Kruopis (Orica-GreenEdge) 9:50:27

Stage 3: Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack-Nissan) 2:14:37

                 Dennis Flahaut (Roubaix Lille Metropole) st

                 Maxime Le Montagner (Veranda Rideau-Super U) st

Aidis Kruopis (Orica-GreenEdge) 12:05:04

Stage 4: Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) 26:30

                 Jeremy Roy (FDJ-BigMat) +09

                 Lazlo Bodrogi (Team Type 1-Sanofi) +17

Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) 12:31:54

Stage 5: Francisco Ventoso (Movistar) 4:05:19
                 Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) st
                 Marco Haller (Katusha) st

Overall GC: Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) 16:37:13
Points Classification: Aidis Kruopis (Orica-GreenEdge) 50 points
Mountains Classification: Gaylord Cumont (Veranda Rideau-Super U) 26 points
Young Rider:Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) 16:37:13
Team Classification: Movistar 49:53:53

Final Teams for the 2012 Vuelta de España

Ag2r La Mondiale

Maxime Bouet (FRA)

John Gadret (FRA)

Ben Gastauer (LUX)

Blel Kadri (FRA)

Lloyd Mondory (FRA)

Matteo Montaguti (ITA)

Rinaldo Nocentini (ITA)

Christophe Riblon (FRA)

Nicolas Roche (IRL) 

2012 Vuelta de España Preview

The return of Alberto to Grand Tour racing has many excited but it is not a foregone conclusion that the Spaniard will finish in Madrid atop the podium. The GC contenders in 2012 are of a high calibre and they will pose individual threats to Contador winning the race. Two riders who finished on the podium last year return as do past winners of the Vuelta. The favourites for the race this year as Juanjo Cobo, Chris Froome, Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Igor Anton, Joaquím Rodríguez, Andrew Talanksy and Robert Gesink although behind these riders are a second tier of favourites who look more likely to challenge for stage wins than the red jersey.

Froome is coming into the Vuelta in 2012 as a known force. In 2011 he was able to deflect attention from himself onto Wiggins if necessary as he riding in support of his teammate. This year will be a different story as Froome finished second behind Wiggins at Le Tour de France and bagged a bronze medal In the ITT at the London Olympics. Froome’s ability to time trial will be detrimental to Contador's attempt at winning the GC. Froome can match the Spaniards climbing prowess as well as his time trialling so it could come down to seconds in Madrid.

Contador Returns to the Vuelta de Espana in 2012

Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 

Alberto Contador
Nicki Sorensen
Matteo Tosatto
Rafal Majka
Sergio Paulinho
Bruno Pires Benjamin Noval
Jesus Hernandez Dani Navarro

Remaining Races in the 2012 Season

14th August: Clàssica San Sebastian (Spain)
-Tre Valli Varesine (Italy)
14th-17th August: Tour of Limousin (France) stage race
15th August: Coppa Ugo Agostoni (Italy)
15th-26th August: Volta a Portugal (Portugal)  stage race 
16th August: Coppa Bernochi (Italy)
-GP Capodarco (Italy)
17th August: Dutch Food Valley Classic (Netherlands)
18th August: Trofeo Melinda (Italy)
18th August-9th September: Vuelta de España (Spain)  stage race 
19th August: Vattenfall Cyclassics (Germany)
19th August: Chateauroux Classic (France)
20th-26th August: USA Procycling Challenge (USA)  stage race 
21st August: GP Stad Zottegem (Belgium)
21st-24th August: Tour du Poitou-Charentes (France)  stage race 
22nd August: Druivenkoers Overijse (Belgium)
22nd- 26th August: Danmark Rundt (Denmark)
23rd August: GP Industria e Commercio Artigianato Carnaghese (Italy)
25th August: Giro del Vento (Italy)
26th August: Schaal Sels (Belgium)
26th August: GP Ouest-France (France)
27th August: -1st September: Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda (Italy)  stage race 
31st August- 1st September: World Ports Cycling Classic (Belgium/Netherlands)  stage race 

Recent Grand Tour ITT Results

With an increased number of time trial kilometres in the 2012 Tour de France compared to recent editions the GC candidates will need to have two good ITTs to stand atop the podium in Paris. The tables below are the finishing positions of the current top four riders on the GC at Grand Tours since 2007. These four riders appear to the fighting to the podium but after the 41.5km stage to Besançon the GC will be shuffled. This time the picture of who the overall candidates are will look a little clearer.

In 2011 Cadel Evans won the Tour following his Stage 20 heroics in the 42.5km ITT around Grenoble. On that day Evans finished second to Tony Martin who would go onto to claim his maiden world champion ITT and after two second places at the Tour won his maiden yellow jersey. What was more important than his finishing position on Stage 20 was that Evans had began the day 57 seconds in arrears to Andy Schleck but finished the stage 1:34 ahead of him and won the Tour by doing so. Evans won an ITT stage at the 2007 Tour after initially finishing second behind Alexander Vinokourov who won the Stage 13 time trial around Albi but later testing positive for doping. Bradley Wiggins finished one minute behind Evans in that stage but admittedly he was not as focused on the road as he is now. Evans will be looking to ride the last ITT of the 2012 in yellow and take the jersey on his shoulders all the way to Paris.

Wiggins has already won four ITT stages this season and will begin the Stage Nine time trial a slight favourite ahead of his GC rivals. Wiggins has shown that he the legs to go with the best climbers after his stage race wins this year but the ITT is where Wiggins will want to put serious time into his rivals. If Wiggins has to only follow his rivals in the mountains the Tour is most certainly his. However if he needs to make up time and attack his rivals in the mountains his tilt at the overall looks less likely. Wiggins and Evans are the two favourites for the overall in 2012 partly due to the high number of ITT kms. Evans is no slouch in the ITT and his time trial win at the Critérium International earlier this season will be a mental boost for the Australian. Depending on the results on the ITT Wiggins may intentionally lose yellow and want to stay out of the leader’s jersey until Stage 19.Wiggins appears at unease having to front the media for every day he is yellow and surrendering the jersey may actually be beneficial to his chances for the win. Without the pressure of yellow, Wiggins may be more relaxed and able to launch attacks without the full attention of the peloton.

At the 2008 Tour de France Carlos Sastre was in yellow heading into the final ITT which was a 53km race from Cérilly to Saint-Amand-Montrond but seemed destined to concede yellow to Evans. Evans had begun the Tour as a favourite and was wearing the number one bib on his back after Alberto Contador and his team Astana were not invited to the race following Vinokourov‘s positive test for blood doping. Without the Spaniard to whom Evans had lost the Tour by only 23 seconds to the previous year, the Silence-Lotto rider was a clear favourite for the overall and the Tour would be his to lose. Evans did lose the 2008 and his failure to catch Sastre on the final ITT was his undoing. Now with a one-one record in terms of final ITTs and the maillot jaune, Evans will be confident of making that record two-one in terms of Tour wins. Evans spent several days in yellow with a slender one lead over Franck Schleck in 2008 and as the outright favourite appeared to be seriously affected by this attention. Evans lost the yellow jersey after Stage 15 into Prato Nevoso to Schleck and slipped to third overall. Team CSC held onto yellow after this with the jersey changing hands to Sastre following his win at Alpe d’Huez on Stage 17 and Evans remained on the back foot watching his Tour dreams ride away. Sastre rode the ITT of his life to finish 12th on the stage to lose only 29 seconds to Evans. Evans managed to take back some time on Sastre on the final stage but it was not enough and for the second year running lost the Tour by under a minute. The demons of the 2008 ITT were exorcised in 2011 and Evans may be hoping to have the GC all but sown up by Stage 19.

Evans will be hoping that he will be in yellow during the Stage 20 ITT to Chartres and will have done enough throughout the race to hold a substantial lead over Wiggins. Evans showed during yesterday’s stage that he will attack where ever possible and claw back his current 10 second deficient to the Team Sky rider. Evans will have allies in the GC men who are not so strong in the ITT’s and will be looking to take time off Wiggins in the Alps and Pyrenees. Nibali and Menchov are both reasonable time trials but cannot count on taking time off Wiggins or Evans in them. They will need to attack in the mountains and at any opportunity that arises.

As the tables below show the current top four on the GC have all had impressive ITT results across the three weeks of the three Grand Tours. All have won an ITT stage at a Grand Tour and it appears quite possible that one of the four will win either tomorrow’s stage or Stage 19. The biggest threat from non-GC candidates looks like it will come from Fabian Cancellara as current ITT world champion Tony Martin is nursing several injuries. David Millar from Garmin-Sharp could be considered a dark horse for the stage win as could Rabobank’s Spanish national time trial champion Luis León Sanchez. However with the ITT looking to be decisive in the configuration of the overall, these riders may be pushed down the order by the GC men really wanting to gain some time over their rivals. There are several national ITT champions in the 2012 peloton but with the possibility of yellow after the conclusion of Stage 10, that may prove to be a bigger motivating factor than a stage win would be for the national champions.

Evans, Menchov, Nibali and Wiggins ITT performances at Grand Tours 2007-2012

Evans	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Giro d’Italia	-	-	-	3rd (Stage 1), 2nd (Stage 16), 4th (Stage 21)	-
Tour de France	1st (Stage 13), 2nd (Stage 19)	4th (Stage 4), 7th (Stage 20),  50th (Stage 20)	5th  (Stage 1), 12th (Stage 18)	166th (Stage 19)	2nd (Stage 20)
Vuelta de España	11th (Stage 8)	-	10th (Stage 4), 3rd (Stage 20)	-	-

Wiggins	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Giro d’Italia	-	157th (Stage 10), 4th (Stage 21)	7th, (Stage 12), 2nd (Stage 21)	1st (Stage 1), 67th 2nd (Stage 16), 7th (Stage 21)	-
Tour de France	4th (Stage 13), (Stage 19)	-	3rd (Stage 1), 6th (Stage 18)	9th (Stage 19)	WD
Vuelta de España	-	-	-	-	3rd (Stage 10)

Nibali	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Giro d’Italia	24th (Stage 13), 7th (Stage 20)	7th (Stage 10), 44th (Stage 21)	-	11th (Stage 1), 4th 2nd (Stage 16), 5th (Stage 21)	1st (Stage 16)
Tour de France		10th (Stage 4), 6th (Stage 20)	9th  (Stage 1), 26th (Stage 18)	-	-
Vuelta de España		-	-	15nd (Stage 17)	15th (Stage 10)

Menchov	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Giro d’Italia	-	6th (Stage 10), 25th (Stage 21)	1st (Stage 12),  10th  (Stage 21)	-	6th (Stage 16)
Tour de France	21st (Stage 13)	6th (Stage Four)	53rd (Stage 1), 17th (Stage 18)	11th (Stage 19)	-
Vuelta de España	4th (Stage 8)	-	-	2nd (Stage 17)	13th (Stage 10)

Note: Only ITT stages are considered, no Prologue results have been listed. None of these riders competed in the 2012 Giro d’Italia, therefore the 2012 Tour de France will be their first Grand Tour for the year.