Sunday 11 January 2015 14:34, UK
The 70th edition of the Vuelta a Espana will once again finish in Madrid after last year's break from tradition.
The 2014 race finished in Santiago de Compostela. One of cycling's three grand tours, the gruelling 21-stage race will start with a 7.4 kilometre team time-trial in Marbella on Saturday, August 22, and finish in the Spanish capital on September 13.
The organisers have crammed in a record number of mountain-top finishes with riders having to navigate nine such stages for the first time.
The most demanding of all will come in the 138km, 11th stage in Andorra which will encompass six steep climbs.
There will be two time trial stages with the first getting the event started and the second coming on the race’s 17th stage, a 39km individual time trial through Burgos.
A final mountain finish awaits the riders on the outskirts of Madrid in Cercedilla on the penultimate stage before the traditional parade through the boulevards of the capital on the final Sunday.
Last year's winner, Alberto Contador, is unlikely to try and defend his title as the Spaniard has prioritised the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in 2015, while Team Sky's Chris Froome has yet to commit to the race after his second-place finish in 2014.
Therefore, Movistar duo Alejandro Valverde and Nairo Quintana are among the favourites to battle it out in the general classification, along with Katusha's Spanish rider Joaquim Rodriguez.
"It is a Vuelta like the previous ones, it is very demanding and has explosive finishes," said Valverde, who has finished on the podium for the past three years.
"Without doubt, it will be a very nice race to watch for the spectators. Those of us who will be fighting for the general classification will need to be very aware every day."
