Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) has tipped Chris Froome (Team Sky) to win the Vuelta a Espana.

Contador and Froome are just two of the star names due to start the final Grand Tour of the season on Saturday, with Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde (both Movistar), Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) also among the contenders.

Contador is down-playing his chances in what is his first race since crashing out of the Tour de France with a fractured leg, and the Spaniard will target stage wins rather than the general classification.

Instead, El Pistolero has backed 2013 Tour de France champion Froome to win in an on-bike interview with GCN presenter Matt Stephens, the British national road race champion in 1998, which also covers the two-time Vuelta winner’s return from injury and the arrival of Peter Sagan and Ivan Basso at Tinkoff-Saxo next season.