The Kenyan-born British rider enters the grand tour as the undisputed favorite after winning his third Tour de France title, followed by a bronze medal in the individual time trial at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Advertisement
Three-time victor Alberto Contador and Nairo Quintana are his main rivals. In four appearances, Froome has twice finished runner-up.
The Spaniard, a triple Vuelta victor, did not take part in the event previous year.
Geraint Thomas and Wout Poels have not been selected, whilst Mikel Landa and Nicholas Roche miss out through injury and illness respectively.
Jacques Anquetil (1963) and Bernard Hinault (1978) are the only riders to win both the Tour and the Vuelta in the same season, and they did so when the Vuelta was still held in the spring.
Team time trials are usually a discipline that Astana excel in (they won the opening stage of the 2013 Vuelta, for instance), but today they only managed to finish 11th on the overall standings.
The 71st edition of the race will mainly take place in northern Spain, with stages in the Pyrenees mountains before heading to the east coast for five stages and to capital Madrid for the finale.
“The tough course and stiff competition is bound to make for some aggressive racing”, Froome said.
Contador is looking to match fellow Spaniard Roberto Heras and win the three-week race for a record fourth time.
The 2014 Giro d’Italia victor said he would “settle” for another podium finish, adding that he is “in good shape” and his Movistar team will “be strong in the mountains” with the 2009 Vuelta victor Alejandro Valverde in his team.
Peter Kennaugh has been named in Team Sky’s line-up which will tackle the last of this season’s Grand Tours, La Vuelta a Espana.
“To start nearly a minute from direct rivals is more than I imagined”, said Contador. “Alberto was feeling good which is the most important thing for us and we now look to tomorrow’s stage”. “I just hope for a better start than the one I had in the Tour”.
Britain’s Peter Kennaugh takes the leader’s red jersey as the first Sky member to cross the finish line on the 27.8km route from Ourense’s Laias Health Resort to Castrelo de Mio Nautical Park in Galicia, north-western Spain.
Advertisement
The 2016 Vuelta a Espana begins this Saturday and Eurosport will be showing daily live coverage and highlights, while ITV4 will also broadcast stage highlights.
