Vuelta a España 2014: Stage 21 Preview

It has been a decade since the Vuelta last finished with a time trial, Santiago Pérez winning in 2004 before it was later revealed he had been blood doping. It's even longer since Spain's national tour didn't finish in the capital. The last occasion was in 1993, when, perhaps not by coincidence, the Vuelta concluded with a time trial into Santiago de Compostela, Alex Zülle winning that day.

Race boss Guillén has evoked the 1989 Tour de France's final time trial into Paris when talking about this stage but it's very unlikely to have such a dramatic impact as that stage, primarily because it's less than half of the distance of that historic test. It'll be fast and the gaps between the GC contenders should be very small.

Javier Guillén says: "It's strange not having the final stage in Madrid. It has not happened since 1993 but Santiago is a very fitting setting, especially as it's the 800th anniversary of the visit by St Francis of Assisi and the time trial finishes at the end of the Camino de Santiago."