Froome, Roglic, Dumoulin, Pinot headline Vuelta a España start list

Ineos Grenadiers and Jumbo-Visma will once again go head to head with strong teams and multiple options at the Vuelta a España.

Chris Froome and Richard Carapaz are listed in the British team's line-up while 2019 Vuelta winner Primoz Roglic lines up alongside Tom Dumoulin for the Dutch squad. 

The provisional start list for the 75th edition of the Vuelta a España, a unique 18-stage race that's running from October 20 to November 8, was released on Thursday.

Another team with two team leaders is Movistar, who are bringing Enric Mas and Alejandro Valverde. Other contenders for the overall title include Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott), Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Wout Poels (Bahrain McLaren), Daniel Martínez (EF Pro Cycling), Davide Formolo (UAE Team Emirates) and Dan Martin (Israel-StartUp Nation).

As was the case in the build-up to the Tour de France, however, all eyes will be on the battle between Ineos Grenadiers and Jumbo-Visma, who are supporting their leaders withs strong line-ups. 

Seven-time Grand Tour winner Froome, who won the Vuelta in 2011 and 2017, is named at the top of the Ineos line-up, and one of the main points of interest of the race will be if he's back to Grand Tour-contending form after his 2019 crash at the Criterium du Dauphine and after being left at home for the Tour de France. 

Carapaz was drafted into the Ineos Tour team at the last minute to support Egan Bernal and, after forgoing leadership at the Giro d'Italia, and will surely be keen for his shot at success. 

The pair are supported by experienced Grand Tour domestique Andrey Amador, Colombian climber Ivan Sosa, and road captain Dylan van Baarle. There's a Grand Tour debut for young Colombian Brandon Rivera, and a Grand Tour return for Cameron Wurf after seven years, the Australian having switched to Ironman triathlons in recent years. Michael Golas rounds out the eight-man squad. 

Jumbo-Visma's line-up, meanwhile, has a similar flavour to the Tour de France. 

Roglic, winner of the Vuelta last year, extends his season after the disappointment of finishing runner-up at the Tour. Dumoulin, who sacrificed himself for Roglic at the Tour, is more of a co-leader, but the mantra at the Vuelta is that the road will decide. 

Sepp Kuss, who stood out as a mountain domestique at the Tour, returns to the fold, while George Bennett and Robert Gesink make it half the squad that's doubling up. The team is rounded out by Jonas Vingegaard, Paul Martens, and Lennard Hofstede. 

The two squads are likely to dominate the fight for overall victory but there's plenty of competition for the red jersey. 

Pinot returns to action after struggling through the Tour with an injured back. The Frenchman has bounced back from disappointment late in the season before, winning two stages of the Vuelta, along with Il Lombardia, in 2018. He lines up alongside David Gaudu for Groupama-FDJ.

Movistar are once again eyeing the title in their home Grand Tour, with Enric Mas, who was second overall in 2018 and got better and better as the Tour de France went on. Alejandro Valverde, despite his age and suggestions he's finally on the decline, can simply never be counted out at the Vuelta, where he has finished on the podium seven times. 

Critérium du Dauphiné winner Martínez heads up an EF squad that also includes Michael Woods and Hugh Carthy, while Wout Poels leads the line for Bahrain McLaren, who can also challenge for punchy stages through Dylan Teuns and Matej Mohoric. 

Other possible stage hunters include Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Tim Wellens (Lotto Soudal), Jesús Herrada (Cofidis), and Nans Peters (AG2R La Mondiale), who could complete the Grand Tour set. 

The sprinting field is headlined by Tour de France green jersey Sam Bennett, who's riding two Grand Tours in the same season for the first time. He has a strong Deceuninck-QuickStep lead-out in the form of Shane Archbold, Michael Morkov, and Zdenek Stybar, while it'll be interesting to see how the young and impressive Andrea Bagioli fares for the Belgian team. 

Bennett will face competition on the relatively few flat stages from Pascal Ackermann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Jasper Philippsen (UAE Team Emirates), Matteo Moschetti (Trek-Segafredo), and Magnus Cort (EF Pro Cycling). 

Provisional start list

NB: Bib numbers not yet assigned