Chris Froome (Team Sky) has confirmed he will ride the Vuelta a Espana having won the Tour de France for a second time in July.
The 30-year-old topped the Tour podium ahead of Movistar duo Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde, and will attempt to add the season’s final Grand Tour to his palmares when the Vuelta rolls out of Puerto Banús on August 22.
While Team Sky are yet to announce their squad for the race, Froome used Twitter to confirm he will be riding, and Geraint Thomas, who rode a strong Tour de France in support of Froome, is also expected to feature.
Quintana, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana), and Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) have all been confirmed for the Vuelta, making for a tantilising general classification battle, with Froome attempting to do the Tour-Vuelta double, and Quintana, Nibali and van Garderen all out to stop the Kenyan-born Brit.
Froome made his breakthrough at the Vuelta a Espana in 2011 when he finished second overall, behind Juan José Cobo and ahead of team-mate Sir Bradley Wiggins. Froome then went on to finish second behind Wiggins at the 2012 Tour de France, before winning the race for the first time a year later.
The 2015 Vuelta opens with a 7.4km team time trial and the route goes on to feature six mountain stages, six flat stages, two hilly stages, five medium-mountain stages and a 39km individual time trial. In total there are eight uphill finishes, all coming before the second rest day on a top-heavy course.
Looking forward to taking on the @lavuelta Tough but always exciting for the viewers #bringiton ???????? pic.twitter.com/6DTtNVwV3e
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) August 10, 2015