Remember to sign up for the Vuelta Special League (the first place winner will receive an 'experience' for the next Paris-Roubaix). Find out more here:Vuelta League with gifts for five stage winners | Fantacycling and enter your team into the Legend League in collaboration with Discovery (for the Vuelta only, the first place winner will win the red jersey autographed by Alberto Contador).

After the obligatory reminder, let's talk about the route of the 80th edition of the Vuelta a España, which will start on Saturday, August 23. For the first time in the history of the Vuelta, the race will start in Italy. The Grand Départ is set in Venaria Reale (Turin), with a flat opening stage to Novara , ideal for the sprinters to shine.

The first three stages cross Piedmont and the Maritime Alps, touching places such as Limone Piemonte and Ceres , before crossing the border into France.

Of the 21 stages, 10 feature uphill finishes , many of them in the high mountains. Iconic finishes include l' Angliru (stage 13), one of the toughest climbs in Europe, with gradients approaching 24%; La Farrapona (stage 14); El Morredero (stage 17), a long-awaited return after nearly two decades; and Bola del Mundo (stage 20), the final stage before Madrid, with killer climbs and guaranteed spectacle at over 2,300 meters above sea level. The route also includes two time trials: a 20 km team time trial on stage five in Figueres, Catalonia, and a 26 km individual time trial in Valladolid on stage eighteen. The race concludes in Madrid on September 14, after 3,151 kilometers.

Jonas Vingegaard starts as the clear favorite to take the overall victory. His team, Visma-Lease a Bike, has a top-tier support team: Sepp Kuss, Matteo Jorgenson, and other top-class climbers. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was   He's had a brilliant season with victories in Itzulia, Romandie, and the Tour de Suisse. Despite a crash at the Tour de France, he's full of ambition. Also competing in the UAE will be Juan Ayuso, a talented young rider, but often vulnerable on the big climbs.

For the general classification, we're recommending Mikel Landa, Egan Bernal, Felix Gall, Jay Hindley, and Ben O'Connor. Thomas Pidcock is also present, confirming his intention to aim for a good finish.

The Italian riders deserve a separate chapter: never before have we started with real hopes of doing well, thanks to Antonio Tiberi, Giulio Ciccone, and Giulio Pellizzari, as well as Filippo Ganna for the stages and time trials, and Lorenzo Fortunato and Damiano Caruso for the partial victories and, perhaps, the mountain classification.

There are very few opportunities for the sprinters. But Jasper Philipsen has already set his sights on the first leader's jersey. He's joined by Mads Pedersen, Ethan Vernon, and Casper Van Uden.

Sprint Cycling Photos