Joaquim Rodriguez defending title in five-day Vuelta a España tune-up
The Vuelta a Burgos gets underway in northern Spain on Wednesday, set for five stages of rolling and mountainous terrain. Colombia-Coldeportes makes its return to a high-profile race after a busy spring and quiet early summer, hoping to put some of its emerging climbers on display again.
Along with the Colombian squad, Giro d’Italia runner-up Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) returns to the Burgos race to defend his title from last year. The Vuelta a España preparation race has had Spanish champions in each of the last four years, and nine of the last ten, with Samuel Sanchez, Alejandro Valverde, and Xabier Zandio the most recent champions.
Colombia-Coldeportes will go with two leaders in the Vuelta a Burgos. Esteban Chaves is coming off of a runner-up finish in the Prueba Villafranka-Ordiziako Klasika behind Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi). Along with Chaves, Darwin Atapuma is back to try and recapture the form that saw him finish second in the queen stage of the Tour of California, behind Robert Gesink (Rabobank) on Mount Baldy.
“No doubt our line-up was made up with climbing in mind,” said Colombia-Coldeportes director Valerio Tebaldi. “We are looking to be at the sharp end when the race hits the mountains, and particularly in the queen stage on the final day. Chaves already showed his great shape, and we’ll also welcome back Darwin Atapuma after the Vuelta a Colombia.
“It’s not going to be easy, as it’s a very important race, with plenty of strong opponents at the start. But we’ve got a great mood, and we are looking to keep the momentum going.”
2012 Vuelta a Burgos (2.HC) – The Stages:
Stage 1: Miranda de Embro to Complejo Karstico Ojo Guareña (135km)
Featuring three category-three climbs, including the hill top finish of Ojo Guareña, the opening stage will see many punchy climbers hoping to grab the first leader’s jersey.
Stage 2: Burgos (141km)
Starting and finishing in Burgos, the feature is three loops of a 44km course, with three times up the category-three Alto del Castillo, and the final ascent coming at the finish.
Stage 3: Santo Domingo De Silos to Lerma (159km)
There are three categorized climbs on a lumpy day, but all should be together for a bunch sprint in Lerma. Ben Swift (Sky Procycling) versus Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ-BigMat) will be an ideal matchup of young sprinters.
Stage 4: Dona Santos to Ciudad Romana de Clunia (170km)
No categorized climbs to speak of over 170 kilometres, giving the fast men a second and final day to shine.
Stage 5: Areniscas de los Pinares to Lagunas de Neila (155km)
In 2011, Rodriguez held the lead from stage two until the finish, but it could be possible that he doesn’t take the leader’s jersey until the queen stage this year. The race’s only category-one and hors catégorie climb are both on stage five, with the beyond-category Lagunas de Neila summit finish deciding the final outcome.
2012 Vuelta a Burgos (2.HC) – Startlist:
ACQUA & SAPONE
BETANCUR GOMEZ Carlos Alberto
CODOL Massimo
DI LUCA Danilo
DONATI Alessandro
GARZELLI Stefano
MIHOLJEVIC Vladimir
NAPOLITANO Danilo
REDA Francesco
ANDALUCIA
CABELLO BAENA Antonio
CESAR VELOSO Gustavo
CHACON QUESADA Javier
LOBATO DEL VALLE Juan Jose
PALOMARES VILLAPLANA Adrian
RAMIREZ ABEJA Javier
ROSENDO PRADO Jesus
TORIBIO ALCOLEA Jose Vicente
ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI
CHIARINI Riccardo
ERMETI Giairo
MANCUSO Salvatore
MONSALVE Jonathan
MORENO Francisco Javier
OCHOA Carlos José
PARRINELLO Antonio Casimir
SELLA Emanuele
BURGOS BH – CASTILLA Y LEON
ANTON MARIN Francisco Manuel
BELDA GARCIA David
CAPDEPUY Nicolas
MAS BONET Luis
ORENGO LOPEZ Pascual
SANTAMARIA MUNOZ Oscar
SILVA BRANDÃO Jóni
VERONA QUINTANILLA Carlos
CAJA RURAL
ARAMENDIA LORENTE Javier
BROCO Hernani
CARDOSO Andre Fernando S. Martins
DE LA CRUZ MELGAREJO David
DE LA FUENTE RASILLA David
GALDOS ALONSO Aitor
GARCIA FERNANDEZ Marcos
PIEDRA PEREZ Antonio
COLOMBIA – COLDEPORTES
ATAPUMA HURTADO Jhon Darwin
CHALAPUD GOMEZ Robinson Eduardo
CHAVES RUBIO Johan Esteban
FORERO CARRENO Juan Pablo
GONZALEZ BARRERA Javier
OSPINA NAVARRA Dalivier
PANTANO GOMEZ Jarlinson
RODRIGUEZ GALINDO Michael
EQUIPE CYCLISTE FDJ-BIGMAT
BOUHANNI Nacer
COURTEILLE Arnaud
ELISSONDE Kenny
JEANNESSON Arnold
PAURIOL Rémi
SOUPE Geoffrey
VAUGRENARD Benoît
VEIKKANEN Jussi
EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI
ANTON HERNANDEZ Igor
BILBAO Pello
GARCIA AMBROA Ricardo
LANDA MEANA Mikel
OROZ UGALDE Juan Jose
PEREZ LEZAUN Alan
SICARD Romain
VELASCO MURILLO Ivan
KATUSHA TEAM
FLORENCIO CABRE Xavier
IGNATENKO Petr
KOLOBNEV Alexandr
LOSADA ALGUACIL Alberto
MORENO FERNANDEZ Daniel
RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin
TSATEVITCH Alexey
VICIOSO ARCOS Angel
LIQUIGAS - CANNONDALE
CAPECCHI Eros
PATERSKI Maciej
RATTO Daniele
SAGAN Juraj
SALERNO Cristiano
SARMIENTO TUNARROSA Cayetano José
SZMYD Sylvester
VANOTTI Alessandro
MOVISTAR TEAM
ARROYO DURAN David
BRUSEGHIN Marzio
LOPEZ GARCIA David
MADRAZO Ángel
MORENO BAZAN Javier
PARDILLA BELLON Sergio
PLAZA MOLINA Ruben
VISCONTI Giovanni
ORBEA CONTINENTAL
ABERASTURI IZAGA Jon
BAGUES Aritz
BARBERO CUESTA Carlos
BIZKARRA Mikel
ETXEBARRIA Aritz
FRAILE MATARRANZ Omar
ORBE URRUTIA Haritz
ZABALO IMAZ Xabier
ORICA GREENEDGE
CLARKE Simon
DAVIS Allan
DEAN Julian
DOCKER Mitchell
MEIER Christian
MEYER Cameron
MEYER Travis
SULZBERGER Wesley
RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM
BRESCHEL Matti
GARATE Juan Manuel
GESINK Robert
MARTENS Paul
MOLLEMA Bauke
NIERMANN Grischa
VAN EMDEN Jos
VERMELTFOORT Coen
SAUR – SOJASUN
BESSY Cyril
GALLAND Jérémie
JEANDESBOZ Fabrice
LELAY David
MEDEREL Maxime
PAÏANI Jean Lou
POULHIES Stéphane
POUX Paul
SKY PROCYCLING
APPOLLONIO Davide
DOWSETT Alex
FLECHA GIANNONI Juan Antonio
HENAO MONTOYA Sergio
PATE Danny
SWIFT Ben
URAN Rigoberto
ZANDIO ECHAIDE Xabier
TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO
DAMUSEAU Thomas
DOI Yukihiro
DUMOULIN Tom
FROHLINGER Johannes
GENIEZ Alexandre
HUPOND Thierry
JI Cheng
LUDVIGSSON Tobias
TOPSPORT VLAANDEREN – MERCATOR
ARMEE Sander
DE JONGHE Kevin
LIETAER Eliot
NEIRYNCK Stijn
SERRY Pieter
VAN HECKE Preben
VANOVERBERGHE Arthur
WAEYTENS Zico
VACANSOLEIL – DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM
CARRARA Matteo
DENIFL Stefan
KEIZER Martijn
LAGUTIN Sergey
MARCZYNSKI Tomasz
MOL Wouter
MORAJKO Jacek
MORTENSEN Martin
NOVIKOV Nikita
PAVARIN Marcello
SELVAGGI Mirko
VALLS FERRI Rafael