Cadel Evans has confirmed that he'll be racing the Vuelta this year; so too Contador and Sastre.
CN's list of Vuelta a España teams and leaders:
Team CSC - Saxo Bank (Carlos Sastre),
AG2R - La Mondiale (Vladimir Efimkin),
Andalucía - Caja Sur (José Luís Carrasco),
Astana (Alberto Contador),
Bouygues Telecom (Dimitri Champion),
Caisse d´Epargne (Alejandro Valverde),
Cofidis, le Credit par telephone (Sylvain Chavanel),
Credit Agricole (Eric Berthou),
Euskaltel - Euskadi (Igor Anton),
Française des Jeux (Sandy Casar),
Gerolsteiner (Davide Rebellin),
Karpin Galicia (Ezequiel Mosquera),
Lampre (Damiano Cunego), Liquigas (Daniele Bennati),
Quick Step (Paolo Bettini),
Rabobank (Oscar Freire),
Silence-Lotto (Cadel Evans),
Team Milram (Erik Zabel) and
Tinkoff Credit Systems (Mikhail Ignatiev)
So, it promises much.
I think Contador for the win: not because I think he's head and shoulders above the rest like some do, but he has no injuries of which I am aware, he won't be as tired as his competitors, and the climate in Spain will be to his liking...
Any thoughts?
**********
Edit: More complete start list here. Kloeden is riding for Astana, but Astana won't let him win in Spain in preference to Contador, surely.
Query whether Popo might be preferred to Evans given the ACL; perhaps he will recover some form in Spain, but then Evans owes him nothing, whatever your thoughts about Evans' stage win in Paris-Nice.
I am interested to see how Euskaltel manages also.
CN's list of Vuelta a España teams and leaders:
Team CSC - Saxo Bank (Carlos Sastre),
AG2R - La Mondiale (Vladimir Efimkin),
Andalucía - Caja Sur (José Luís Carrasco),
Astana (Alberto Contador),
Bouygues Telecom (Dimitri Champion),
Caisse d´Epargne (Alejandro Valverde),
Cofidis, le Credit par telephone (Sylvain Chavanel),
Credit Agricole (Eric Berthou),
Euskaltel - Euskadi (Igor Anton),
Française des Jeux (Sandy Casar),
Gerolsteiner (Davide Rebellin),
Karpin Galicia (Ezequiel Mosquera),
Lampre (Damiano Cunego), Liquigas (Daniele Bennati),
Quick Step (Paolo Bettini),
Rabobank (Oscar Freire),
Silence-Lotto (Cadel Evans),
Team Milram (Erik Zabel) and
Tinkoff Credit Systems (Mikhail Ignatiev)
So, it promises much.
I think Contador for the win: not because I think he's head and shoulders above the rest like some do, but he has no injuries of which I am aware, he won't be as tired as his competitors, and the climate in Spain will be to his liking...
Any thoughts?
**********
Edit: More complete start list here. Kloeden is riding for Astana, but Astana won't let him win in Spain in preference to Contador, surely.
Query whether Popo might be preferred to Evans given the ACL; perhaps he will recover some form in Spain, but then Evans owes him nothing, whatever your thoughts about Evans' stage win in Paris-Nice.
I am interested to see how Euskaltel manages also.