Sastre, Cavendish confirmed for Vuelta
After the Tour de France, the Vuelta a España is the biggest cycling race in the world. Less than three weeks away, speculation has run hotly as to who will be competing in the Vuelta. On Friday, the Cervelo TestTeam and HTC-Columbia have confirmed that Carlos Sastre and Mark Cavendish, respectively, will be joining their teams at the third and final Grand Tour.
Sastre, a climbing specialist, won the Tour de France in 2008 and finished this year in the top-20. He has a total of 14 top-10 Grand Tour finishes, including finishing in the top-five at the Vuelta for five consecutive years from 2004 to 2008. He joined Cervelo in 2009 and will be riding all three Grand Tours in the same year for the second time, after 2006.
At the 2010 Tour de France, Cavendish shattered the record for most spring stage finishes in the Tour, which stood at 12 before the Brit brought his total to 15 with five stage wins. He has eight stage wins so far this season, and this will be his first time competing in the Vuelta a España.
This year, the Vuelta has also confirmed Frank Schleck, Tour runner-up Andy Schleck, Tour third-place Denis Menchov, Vincenzo Nibali and Roman Kreuziger as the big names on the start list. The first ten stages will be a show for the sprinters, many of whom are using the Vuelta as a warm-up for the UCI Road World Championships in Geelong, Australia.
Sastre will be supported by sprinter Thor Hushovd, who finished third in the Tour green jersey competition behind Cavendish’s second. Alessandro Petacchi, who won the green jersey in the Tour, will be supported Nibali and Kreuziger on team Lampre.
Cavendish will be riding without his preferred lead-out man, Mark Renshaw, and his best competition in the Vuelta will arguably be the proven sprint-team of Tyler Farrar and Julian Dean, of Garmin-Transitions. David Millar will be backing up the pair, who have a well-earned reputation of being at the front of the bunch sprints in the Grand Tours.
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