Cadel Evans will ride in the Vuelta a Andalucía (Image credit: Bjorn Haake)
By Antonio J. Salmerón
The 55th edition of the Vuelta a Andalucía was presented in Cruzcampo, near Sevilla, on Tuesday. The race will run February 15-19 and consist of a prologue and four road stages. Thirteen teams with a total of 91 riders will take the start in Jaén on Sunday. The total race distance is just shy of 670 kilometres.
Several top riders will show up, including Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto). Olympic champion Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Davide Rebellin, and Denis Menchov will also start the race. Pablo Lastras will be there to defend his title.
The race will pass the southern provinces of Málaga, Granada, Jaén and Córdoba. The prologue in Jaén is 7.3 kilometres long. The road stages are between 160 and 170 kilometres.
There will be a total of 13 KOM points and eight intermediate sprints. The last stage will be the queen stage, with five KOM points and the climb of El Torcal, the only category one mountain in the race.
