The season’s final Grand Tour, the Vuelta a Espana, rolls out of Jerez, Andalucia, on Saturday August 23, with an all-star cast bidding to end the season on a high by bagging the red jersey.

Giro d’Italia champion Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and 2013 Tour de France victor Chris Froome (Team Sky) top the bill in a field which also includes Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).

Contador will target stage wins, having recovered from the broken leg he suffered at the Tour de France, while Froome and Rodriguez will bid to end their Grand Tour seasons on a high note after crashing out of the Tour and Giro respectively.

But where will this year’s race be won or lost, and where will the GC men be looking to make the big gains in their bid to follow 2013 champion Chris Horner?

We have picked six of the stages set to have a say on the final destination of red jersey at this year’s race. Check them out over the following pages and mark your diary.