It's grand tour time and Couch Critic previews the 2019 Vuelta Espana, nailing up his outright best bets
SETTING THE SCENE
The final Grand Tour is officially upon us. The Vuelta Espana gets underway with a team time trial on Saturday. The Spanish stage race is the youngest of the three grand tours yet instead of being the younger sibling that gets spoilt the Vuelta is quite often the one doing the spoiling. It’s a beautifully relaxed, yet super volatile race that just seems to operate without any strict limitations or restrictive rules and one gets pure exhilarating races.
The Spanish landscape lends itself to some harsh climbing and given the scheduling of the race at this time there are few cyclists who specifically target being at their very best for the third GT. Instead you find riders trying to either replicate or improve on early Giro form. Alternatively there are a number of Tour de France riders who have been asked to keep the legs turning over for three more weeks before enjoying a break. The Vuelta is perhaps most commonly seen as last chance saloon for one of the GC riders who missed out in Italy or France (often due to illness or injury).
CONTENDERS FOR GLORY IN MADRID?
Roglic – Powerful team and well suited to the time trial. Started Giro well before fading so many believe the amount of early climbing will suit him.
Ineos (Poels) – Wout never reached his best in France and must be wondering about life in the shadows at Ineos given Bernal’s success, the signing of Carapaz and the talent of his young Vuelta team mate, Tao Gheoghegan Hart.
Lopez – Astana have good depth in their squad to support Miguel Angel. He’s a pure out and out climber who should enjoy the Spanish parcourse.
Movistar – The team that is Spanish at its core will always be well loved in this race yet once again arrive at a grand tour without a designated lone leader. It might sound clever to have plenty of options at your disposal but just how much use Nairo can be as a domestique is something Landa for one has serious doubts about. In home territory Valverde will also surely be on the lookout to get the odd positive personal result as well rather than just bury himself for another leader. Sorry Carapaz, you are about to jump ship amigo and whilst you might be part of one of the strongest teams in the race I just don’t see Movi as good enough of a unit to ensure one of their big guns sips Champagne in Madrid.
Chavez – Starting to get back up to speed but I see it tough for him to compete against the best of the best. This Mitchelton Scott team is over reliant on the work of Nieve.
EF Education – I can’t wait to see this outfit in action. Uran looks to wind back the clock whilst youngsters like Sergio Higuita, Daniel Martinez and Hugh Carthy get the opportunity to show what they can do on the big stage against some of the bigger names of world cycling (one team with 3 such young talents is incredible).
HOW I SEE IT PLAYING OUT
Despite the Vuelta usually being a more open and unpredictable race, I find it tough looking past anything other than a straight fight between Roglic and Lopez. The one a pure Columbian climber and the other a cross-over rider who is super-fast against the clock and with an unbelievable kick in his legs. I will stick with the Columbian theme and go with Superman Lopez!
Apart from these top two this really could be there year for the youngster to overshadow the older warhorses as well as riders attempting back-to-back grand tours into solid top 10 finishes or KOM challengers.
Given sprinting is pretty much to the Vuleta what a salad is to a South African male the chances are that an outright fast man won’t be wearing the overall sprinters jersey in Madrid, so proceed with caution if you want to get involved in this market.
BETOLIMP Best Bets for Vuelta Espana 2019
To win the race – MA Lopez @ 3.55
KOM Winner – Hugh Carthy @ 38.00 or Daniel Martinez @ 37.00
Special: Podium finish - Tao Gheoghegan Hart @ 7.50
Special: Top 10 – Sergio Higuita @ 3.40
Special: Number of stage wins – Sam Bennett over 2.5 @ 2.30
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change
Couch Critic
