Vuelta 2019: The big names are missing

A look at the starting field raises questions: Where are the stars? Christopher Froome and Tom Dumoulin are recovering from fall injuries, Geraint Thomas is missing, as is Tour winner Egan Bernal, who is celebrating in his home country of Colombia, and defending champion Simon Yates. Mikel Landa and Vincenzo Nibali are also doing the Tour of Spain after the Tour of Italy and France.

A showdown between two superstars, like the one between Froome and Alberto Contador, is not on the horizon. So it's quite possible that after the Giro d'Italia (Richard Carapaz/ECU) and the Tour there will also be a new winning face at the Vuelta - perhaps that of Steven Kruijswijk or his Jumbo Lotto teammate Primoz Roglic. It is not only unclear how the Slovenian ex-ski jumper, who is strong in time trials, has built up his form in view of the World Championships in September.

Last year's British dominance, when the professionals from the kingdom won all three major tours, could be followed by South America's complete triumph in 2019. In addition to the Movistar duo Carapaz and 2016 winner Nairo Quintana, Rigoberto Uran (EF-Education First), Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) and last year's third-place finisher Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) are also among the narrower circle of favorites for the red jersey.

The schedule A total of 3.272 km has to be covered in 21 sections, including a team time trial in Torrevieja at the start and a 36,2 km long individual time trial after the first rest day. The fifth stage, the first of eight mountain finishes, could provide an initial indicator of who has good climbing legs. At the end of the first week, the difficult climb to Cortals d'Encamp in the Pyrenees of Andorra is on the agenda. The 13th section brings the extremely steep final climb to Los Machucos – referred to by the locals as “rampas inhumanas” (inhuman ramps).

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Vuelta 2019: The big names are missing

The last big national cycling tour of the 2019 season will begin on Saturday. The 74th edition of the Vuelta a Espana has no clear favorite and some big names are missing.

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