CYCLING/Tour of Spain:Spanish Tour de France star Oscar Pereiro was honoured at the announcement of the route of the 2007 Vuelta a Espana yesterday in Madrid.
The Grand Tour will begin on September 1st next year in his home city of Vigo with a 145-kilometre road stage, then head north towards a very early rendezvous with the first of the major mountain stages, stage four's 182-kilometre leg to the Special Category Lagos de Covadonga.
The lack of a prologue plus the early climbs are the standout of the first week of the race, which will total approximately 3,241 kilometres in length. In all there are 11 mainly flat stages, eight days of medium and high mountains plus two time trials.
The first of these comes on day eight and is a 49-kilometre race against the clock, while the second takes place on the penultimate day of race and is just 25 kilometres in length. Following that first TT in Zaragoza the riders head skywards once more, racing to the summit finishes at the Estacion de Esqui Cerler and then stage 10's Estacion d'Esqui d'Ordino-Arcalís in Andorra.
The next decisive climbing stage comes five days later on a 205-kilometre leg to Granada, which features the same downhill run in to the finish as to when 2006 winner Alexandre Vinokourov took over the race lead from Alejandro Valverde.
The final four days will be both highly competitive and visually spectacular, with an undulating stage to the famous walled city of Avila being followed by the final mountain summit finish to Alto de Abantos, a 25-kilometre time trial and then the concluding leg to the Spanish capital of Madrid.
The Vuelta a Espana is the third biggest stage race in the world and due to television exposure and the resulting tourism revenues, is worth millions to Spain's economy.
Vinokourov, third placed Andrey Kashechkin (Astana team) and fourth placed Carlos Sastre (CSC) were all missing from yesterday's presentation, but runner-up Alejandro Valverde was happy with what he saw. "It's a hard route but a very nice one," he stated. Team-mate Pereiro was also pleased. "It looks good and starting very near my home is very special for me."
