It is 22 years since the Vuelta a España was shifted from its late April slot in the calendar to its current position after the Tour de France with the world championships on the horizon. The notion then – propounded by the architect of the move, the late Hein Verbruggen – was that the race would be a post-Tour revenge match, where the riders who had slipped up in France could try to salvage their seasons.
It has taken a while but that is now how the Vuelta looks, partly because Team Sky’s dominance of the Tour since 2012 – five wins from a possible six – has meant Grand Tour specialists have frequently been disappointed in recent seasons, and thus have no option but to look to Spain for redemption.
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