VUELTA A ESPAÑA

Starting this Saturday in Burgos, the 76th Tour of Spain is the final three-week Grand Tour of the season and the last chance for stage race glory

1.SATURDAY 14 AUGUST BURGOS TO BURGOS | 7.1KM | INDIVIDUAL TIME TRIAL

The grandiose Gothic spires of Burgos Cathedral will provide a stunning backdrop for the opening time trial of the 2021 Vuelta, which celebrates 800 years since the beginning of its construction. Each rider will set off in turn from the cathedral, to embark upon a 7km technical route around the city, which is mostly flat save for one small hill near the start.

Inside the cathedral is the tomb of legendary medieval warlord El Cid, but this stage is unlikely to resemble any of the epic battles recounted from his life. Unlike the last time Burgos hosted a Vuelta time trial in 2015 when Tom Dumoulin trounced the field to swing the race for overall victory hugely in his favour, this time trial is a mere 7km long. The gaps between the GC favourites should therefore be only a matter of seconds.

2.SUNDAY 15 AUGUST CALERUEGA TO BURGOS | 166.7KM | FLAT

The only thing more inevitable than the presence of a rider from the local Burgos-BH wildcard team in the day’s break is that this stage will finish in a bunch sprint. From the start in Caleruega (birthplace of Saint Dominic, who founded the Dominican Order in the 13th century) to the finish in Burgos, the parcours is totally flat, and nothing should prevent the sprinters’ teams from controlling the race for a sprint finish.

Burgos is also home to a museum of human evolution, and although you won’t find a monument of Mark Cavendish in there, there are few more advanced forms of mankind’s athleticism than a sprinter in full flight. It’s not just the power they produce, but also the nous and quick-thinking to make such split-second decisions, and bravery to risk crashing. Nothing much may happen before it, but the adrenaline rush of the bunch sprint will be worth the wait.