All season the battle for Grand Tour honours between Chris Froome and Alberto Contador was eagerly anticipated, only for them both to crash out of the Tour de France.

The battle between the two is now well and truly on, however, alongside a cast of arguably the best Grand Tour contenders on the circuit, minus Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali (Astana).

Froome, Contador, Rodriguez, Quintana, Valverde, Uran, Aru – 23 Grand Tour podiums between them – is a phenomenal line-up for supposedly the lesser of the three three-week races.

And the battle between Froome and Contador within that is already shaping up to be an intriguing battle.

Froome’s stage seven attack earned him time back overall and plaudits for his tactical sense, while the two were carefully marking each other in the crosswinds on stage eight.

Stage nine, however, saw Contador bounce back with his late attack putting him second overall and costing Froome time.

Both are riding on the back of their respective Tour de France injuries, but both are desperate to end the year on a high.

At the first rest day it is advantage Contador. Over to Froome, then, to hit back.