Las Rozas to Madrid
Sat 11th Sept, 104.8kms
So on to the final stage, the traditional end of Grand Tour parade, with a short stage to Madrid and a likely sprint finish. It brings an end to what has been a pretty good Vuelta overall for us, with some good winners along the way.
Corvera de Asturias to Alto de l'Angliru
Sat 9th Sept, 117.5kms
The final chance to reshape the GC top ten, with a brutal had stage that finishes on top of the now-legendary Angliru with its slopes of over 20% that will blow the race to bits just 2kms from the end of the climbing for this year.
Vuelta Stage 19
Caso. Parque Natural de Redes to Gijón
Friday 8th Sept, 149.7kms
An ordinary looking stage that is just a warm-up for the brute that is the penultimate stage tomorrow. It's starts with a Cat 1 climb inside the first 29kms, but then becomes something like Liege-Bastogne-Liege for the remainder.
Suances to Santo Toribio de Liébana
Thurs 7th Sept, 169kms
An interesting stage.. it almost a nothing stage, and if this was in the Tour de France, it would be a boring 169km slog that got interesting for the last 5kms, but somehow, as this is the Vuleta, I think we might see a bit more action.
Villadiego to Los Machucos
Wed 6th Sept, 180.5km
Another interesting looking stage with a double sting in the tail. A relatively flat and calm open gives way to what should be a crazy last 80kms or so where they hit a Cat two and then a Cat 1 and Especiale climb in the last 26kms.
Alcalá La Real to Sierra Nevada
Sunday 3th Sept, 129.4kms
The Queen stage.. and what a stage we could be in for today - it is short, but it is nasty, with 3,172m of vertical climbing culminating in the 19km pull to Sierra Nevada that tops out at over 2,500m.
Écija to Sierra De La Pandera
Sat 3rd Sept, 196kms
A stage that is climbing right from the flag-drop and climbs all day, from a height of 120m at the start to 1830m at the finish, getting steeper as they go, culminating in the Escpeciale finish on top of the Alto Sierra De La Pandera.
Coín to Tomares
Friday 1st Sept, 198.4kms
Possibly the final chance in this Vuelta for the few sprinters that are here, but it's not quite straightforward with a lumpy last 3kms that could see strong puncheurs mixing it up with the remaining sprinters.
Motril to Antequera
Thurs 31st August, 160.1kms
A tale of two halves as the route map is divided in to 80kms of almost totally flat roads as they run along the coast towards Malaga, and then 80kms of lumpy hills as they head north towards the finish in Antequera.
Lorca to Calar Alto
Wed Aug 30th, 187.5kms
An interesting profile which sees them climbing from the flag-drop, and although it's an uncategorised little hill that averages only about 2%, it does drag on for nearly 10kms, so will serve as a good launching pad for the break of the day.
Caravaca to ElPozo Alimentación
Tuesday 29th August, 164.8kms
Another similar stage to a lot that we have seen already, a flattish run for 80% of the stage, and then a sting in the tail at the end of it.. This is a relatively short stage at 164.8kms, the day after the rest day, so expect some action.
Orihuela to Cumbre del. Sol
Sunday 27th August, 174kms
A flat run along the stunning Levante coast for 125kms before they turn inland and on to the loop that takes them over the finishing hill in Cumbre del. Sol twice in the last 45kms. Flat and boring for 125kms, but with a tough, exciting finish.
Hellín to Xorret de Cartí
Sat 26th Aug, 199.5kms
Another 'mid-mountain' transitional stage that takes them west for almost 200kms from Hellin to Xorret de Carti just north of Alicante. The finish will be an interesting one with slopes of over 20% on the final climb.
Llíria to Cuenca
Fri 25th August, 207kms
The longest stage of the Vuelta, but it's still only a paltry 207kms, compared to some of the many 200km plus stages we had to endure during this year's TDF.
Vila-real to Sagunt
Thurs 24th Aug, 204.4kms
A very similar stage to yesterday's, but without the uphill finish! It's almost a carbon-copy of stage 5 with a dip inland in to the hills and a roller-coaster profile that sees them go over four Cat 3s and a Cat 1 climb, but this one has a flat last 10kms.
Benicàssim to Alcossebre
Wed. 23rd August, 175.7kms
A lumpy day in the saddle, a typical Vuelta 'medium mountains' stage which seems to hardly have a flat kilometre of road in the whole stage, and finishes with a tough uphill climb to Alcossebre.
Escaldes-Engordany to Tarragona
Tues 22nd August, 198.2kms
The stage starts in Andorra, but 8kms later they finally enter Spain at Lleida on a stage that descends out of the Andorran hills for almost 200kms until they reach the coast where we should see a sprint in Tarragona.
A selection of other random bets
Lot's of other markets to think about as usual with the Grand Tours, not as many as at the Tour de France, but still plenty to get stuck in to. Let's have a look at some that caught my eye
Nîmes to Nîmes
Saturday Aug 19th, 13.7km
The Vuelta a Espana starts once again with a Team Time Trial, the eight year running that the race has started with a TTT. Last year's TTT saw Team Sky and Movistar finish on the same time, with Sky being awarded the win by hundredths of a second.
Who'll win the 2017 Vuelta team prize?
The Team Classification prize should be a very tight contest this year. The top GC teams are packed with top quality riders, there's not a lot of difference in terms of quality and they will all be fighting for every place on every stage.
Who's going to win the other key jerseys?
The competition for the KOM and sprinters jerseys in the Vuelta are as competitive and hard-fought as in every other Grand Tour, and equally as difficult to try to predict a winner for!
A look at the leading GC candidates
Chris Froome looks to become the first Brit to win the Vuelta a Espana and the first man since Bernault Hinault in 1978 to win the Tour-Vuelta double, and he's just 4/5 to do so, a very short price for a Grand Tour.
Can Froome land the elusive double?
After a Tour de France that to me was one of the most boring wins from a most boring man on the most boring team, on a most boring route, it's safe to say that we are hoping for better fare from this year's Vuelta a Espana!
Nîmes to Gruissan
Sunday August 20th, 203.4kms
Stage two of the Vuelta and it's the first opportunity for the sprinters to shine with a flat run along the Mediterannean.
Prades Conflent Canigó to Andorra la Vella
Mon 21st August, 158.5kms
It's only stage three, but we are already in the mountains, with a trip that takes them out of France and in to Spain and Andorra. It's a relatively short stage at just 158kms, but they take in two Cat 1s and a Cat 2 climb along the way.
