Who will reign in Spain?
Alcorcón to Madrid
Sat 16th Sept, 100.9kms
So on to the final stage, the traditional end of Grand Tour parade, with a short stage to Madrid and a likely sprint finish. Can Viviani notch up the hat-trick, or will a resurgent Sagan beat him again like in stage 18?
Vuelta Stage 19
Lleida – Andorra. Naturlandia
Friday 14th Sept, 157kms
Bizarrely, the Vuelta website says that this is a 'Flat' stage, and although it does start at just 170m, it ends up at over 2,000m in height, climbing almost all day long, gently at first, then kicking up hard for the final climb in Andorra.
Escaldes-Engordany – Coll. de La Gallina
Sat 15th Sept, 97.3kms
The final chance to reshape the top ten, with a short, but brutal hard stage that will take no prisoners. Three Cat 1s, an Esp climb, a Cat 2 and a Cat 3 with accumulated altitude gain of over 4,000m in just 97kms.
E. de los Caballeros – Lleida
Thurs 13th Sept, 180.5kms
This looks like one to skip until the last 10 minutes, it's flat to gently descending all day with a downhill run to an uphill sprint finish. The most exciting part might be that 20% downhill dip with 2kms to go..
Getxo – Balcón de Bizkaia
Wed 12th Sept, 166.4km
Another lumpy stage, another summit finish. A strange route that takes them all over the place, in from the coast and back out again on a U-turn and back down to another loop which takes them some way up the final climb first time around.
Ribera de Arriba - Lagos de Covadonga
Sunday 9th Sept, 178.2kms
As was the case last year, the Queen stage is on stage 15, on prime time Sunday afternoon TV.. and what a stage we could be in for today with the finish to the iconic Lagos de Cavadonga.
Cistierna – Les Praeres. Nava
Sat 8th Sept, 167kms
Stage 2 of the Asturias-Leon tryptich, as they turn around and head back north again towards the coast. This is a really tough stage, culminating in the nasty 4kms climb to the finish at 12.5% gradient.
Candás. Carreño - La Camperona
Friday 7th Sept, 174.8kms
This could be a wild stage and could see a real separation between those who might win, and those who won't. They are climbing for more or less the first 100kms and they finish on the Cat 1 climb to La Camperona.
Mombuey – Ribeira S. Luintra
Wed Sept 5th, 208.8kms
The longest stage of the Vuelta, and a stage that looks perfect for a breakaway to succeed, with a rolling course over 208kms. The final Cat 3 climb that tops out with 20kms to go could well decide the winner, although there's another 'hidden' hill with less than 6kms to go too.
Mondoñedo – Faro de E. de Bares
Thurs 6th Sept, 177.5kms
A run along the Galician coast on a stage that sees them climbing after just 5kms, but then flattens out for 120kms, before getting hilly inside the last 60kms again. The break has a chance, but it's probably one for the sprinters.
Salamanca – Fermoselle
Tuesday 4th Sept, 172.5kms
Rest day over and we're back to another boring flat stage as they head towards the west coast of Spain. It should end in a sprint finish in Fermoselle, but being the day after the rest day, after that mountain stage, who knows..
Tal. de la Reina – La Covatilla
Sunday 2nd Sept, 195kms
After a number of transition stages and sprints we finally tackle the big mountains again as the race heads to the 'Central Chain' mountains, west of Madrid, with a summit finish on La Covatilla.
Linares – Almadén
Sat 1st Sept, 195.1kms
A very similar stage to stage 7, in that it rolls along on pretty boring non-descript countryside for 190kms before an uphill drag to the line. The finish is slightly steeper than yesterday's though, the last 800m average over 5%.
Puerto Lumbreras – Pozo Alcón
Fri 30th August, 182kms
A rolling course that takes them inland and in to the heat of rural Andalusia. It's not too difficult a stage, but the temperature could cause problems, we could see the thermometer hit over 30 degress on this stage.
Huércal-Overa – San Javier
Thurs 30th Aug, 153kms
A dull stage on paper if there ever was one, a trip along the coast heading north to San Javier for the day, with a couple of bumps along the way, but it should finish in a sprint finish at the end of the day.
Granada – Roquetas de Mar
Wed. 29th August, 188kms
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, but could finish in a sprint for those who can hang on over the final climb.
Vélez-Málaga – S. de la Alfaguara
Tues 28th August, 162kms
A stage that starts out innocent enough with a nice, pleasant, gentle run along the coast from Malaga for 42kms, before they turn inland and face a Cat 1 climb that takes them to over 1300m in 30kms.
Mijas – Alhaurín de la Torre
Mon 27th August, 182.5kms
It's only stage three, but we already tackle a Cat 1 climb in the hills above Torremolinos, but the road gradually works its way back down to the flatlands over the remaining 135kms for what could be a sprint finish.
Who'll win the 2018 team prize?
The Team Classification prize would appear according to the betting to be a one team affair this year with Movistar the 8/11 favourites, but can any of the other teams put it up to them?
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 some interesting ones to get stuck in to. Let's have a look at some that caught my eye.
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!
Marbella – Caminito del Rey
Sunday Aug 26th, 163.9kms
Stage two, and like in 2015 we're already on an uphill finish with the climb to the summit of Caminito del Rey. Back in 2015, it was Esteban Chaves who announced himself to the big time on this mountain with a superb late attack to take the win.
Málaga to Málaga
Sat Aug 25th, 8kms
The Vuelta a Espana starts with an individual time trial this year, breaking with the recent tradition of team time trials opening the race. It's a short, flat and fast TT that should see the power men battle for the stage and the first red jersey of the race.
A look at the GC favourites
Last year it looked like a formality for Chris Froome to land the Tour/Vuelta double, and his odds-on price in places reflected that fact. This year's race is a lot more open, with no clear favourite, and five riders between 11/4 and 10/1.
Redemption for lil' Richie?
3,254.7kms, 46 mountains, 9 summit finishes, 6 flat stages, 2 time trials.. it's time for the 2018 Vuelta a España.. Can Richie Porte take redemption after yet another disastrous Tour de France?
