Vuelta a España 2022

Matthew Busche says he's riding the Vuelta for his future; Heinrich Haussler is hoping to rebuild his form.

Stage 7 1. Marcel Kittel, Skil-Shimano, 4:47:59 2. Peter Sagan, Liquigas-Cannondale, same time 3. Óscar Freire, Rabobank Cycling Team, s.t. 4. Daniele Bennati, Leopard-Trek, s.t. 5. Lloyd Mondory, Ag2r La Mondiale, s.t. GC 1. Sylvain Chavanel, Quick Step, 27:29:12 2. Daniel Moreno, Team Katusha, at 0:15 3. Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas-Cannondale, at 0:16 4. Joaquin Rodriguez, Team Katusha, at 0:23 5. Jakob Fuglsang, Leopard-Trek, at 0:25

Conventional wisdom has shifted among race organizers, who are under the gun to deliver exciting finales that capture the attention of fans and media alike.

Taylor Phinney (BMC) was close to riding into the day's main breakaway in Thursday's scorcher across Andalucîa when he pulled clear in the opening kilometers of the 193.4km stage.

Graham Watson shoots stage 6 of the 2011 Vuelta a España.

Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Sky) pulled out of his final grand tour due to injuries from a high-speed collision with a young boy in Wednesday's fifth stage.

Stage 6 1. Peter Sagan, Liquigas-Cannondale, 4:38:22 2. Pablo Lastras, Movistar, same time 3. Valerio Agnoli, Liquigas-Cannondale, s.t. 4. Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas-Cannondale, s.t. 5. Eros Capecchi, Liquigas-Cannondale, at 0:03 GC 1. Sylvain Chavanel, Quick Step, 22:41:13 2. Daniel Moreno, Team Katusha, at 0:15 3. Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas-Cannondale, at 0:16 4. Joaquin Rodriguez, Team Katusha, at 0:23 5. Jakob Fuglsang, Leopard-Trek, at 0:25

VALDEPENAS, Spain (VN) - Kanstantsin Sivtsov says he secured his future long before the collapse of the HTC-Highroad team, which will shutter its doors at the end of the 2011 season.

1. Joaquin RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, (ESP) Team Katusha, in 4:42:54 2. Wouter POELS, (NED) Vacansoleil-Dcm, at 4 3. Daniel MORENO FERNANDEZ, (ESP) Team Katusha, at 5 4. Bauke MOLLEMA, (NED) Rabobank Cycling Team, at 7 5. Michele SCARPONI, (ITA) Lampre-Isd, at 8

VALDEPENAS DE JAEN, Spain (AFP) - Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez won the mountainous fifth stage of the Tour of Spain on Wednesday, a 187km ride from the ski resort of Sierra Nevada.

HTC-Highroad sport director Jens Zemke said Cavendish was spent from the effort of the first four days of racing. "He had nothing left. He was totally empty," Zemke told VeloNews. "He said he was so tired he could have fallen asleep in the car. It was 40C on the road today. He had no more power and could not continue."

TOTANA, Spain (VN) - Andrew Talansky is making his grand-tour debut with one simple goal: arriving to Madrid.

Stage 1. Pablo Lastras Garcia, Movistar Team (mov), in 3:58:00 2. Sylvain Chavanel, Quickstep Cycling Team (qst), at 15 3. Markel Irizar Aranburu, Team RadioShack (rsh), at 15 4. Ruslan Pydgornyy, Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team (vcd), at 15 5. Nicolas Roche, Ag2r La Mondiale (alm), at 1:43 GC 1. Pablo Lastras Garcia, Movistar Team (mov), in 8:25:59 2. Sylvain Chavanel, Quickstep Cycling Team (qst), at 20 3. Markel Irizar Aranburu, Team RadioShack (rsh), at 1:08 4. Ruslan Pydgornyy, Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team (vcd), at 1:24 5. Jakob Fuglsang, Leopard Trek (leo), at 1:55

TOTANA, Spain (AFP) — Spanish rider Pablo Lastras (Movistar) won the third stage of the Tour of Spain and took the overall leader's red jersey on Monday on a 164-kilometre ride from Petrer to Totana.

Graham Watson captures the action in stage 2 of the 2011 Vuelta a España.

HTC-Highroad promises to ride its last grand tour with its collective head held high as Tim Duggan hopes to clinch an extension with Liquigas-Cannondale.

Stage 2 1. Christopher Sutton, Team Sky, at 4:11:41 2. Vicente Reynes, Omega Pharma-Lotto, same time 3. Marcel Kittel, Skil-Shimano, s.t. 4. Tyler Farrar, Garmin-Cervélo, s.t. 5. Matti Breschel, Rabobank Cycling Team, s.t.

Jakob Fuglsang wants to keep his red jersey; Iñigo Cuesta is on the sidelines; and organizers hope an earlier race draws bigger crowds.

Graham Watson snaps the team time trial opening the 2011 Vuelta a España.

Stage 1 1. Leopard-Trek, 16:30 2. Liquigas-Cannondale, at 0:04 3. HTC-Highroad, at 0:09 
4. Astana, at 0:10 5. Movistar, at 0:14 GC 1. Jakob Fuglsang, Leopard-Trek, 16:30 2. Fabian Cancellara, Leopard-Trek, same time 3. Maxime Monfort, Leopard-Trek, s.t. 4. Thomas Rohregger, Leopard-Trek, s.t. 5. Daniele Bennati, Leopard-Trek, s.t.

A long, decisive time trial at midrace could give the edge to two-time Vuelta champ Denis Menchov.

BENIDORM, Spain (VN) — Taylor Phinney knows that the next few weeks of his life won't be easy.

BENIDORM, Spain (VN) — Love them or hate them, time bonuses are on the menu for the three-week Vuelta a España.

BENIDORM, Spain (VN) — Race organizers did the climbing specialists a favor this year by placing a long yet decisive individual time trial right in the middle of the three-week Vuelta a España that should see the mountains crown the overall winner on September 11 in Madrid.

BENIDORM, Spain (VN) — The 22 starting teams will face a short, 13.5km, but challenging team time trial course to open the 66th Vuelta a España around this bustling beach resort along Spain's Mediterranean Coast.

BENIDORM, Spain (VN) — The season's third grand tour clicks into gear Saturday with a team time trial in this seaside summer resort that's already packed to the gills with tourists seeking sand, sun and sex. How many of those are here for the Vuelta a España is not exactly clear, but the Spanish tour will start with no shortage of contenders for overall victory when the race roars into Madrid on September 11 for the final sprint.

RadioShack lines up for the Vuelta a España with a strong team centered around Jani Brajkovic and Andreas Klöden.

BERLIN (AFP) — German veteran Andreas Klöden of RadioShack has said he is not aiming for victory in the Tour of Spain, which starts Saturday, after suffering heavy falls on last month's Tour de France.

Taylor Phinney will be making his grand-tour debut with a BMC team looking to win stages and sneak into breakaways at the Vuelta a España.

PARIS (AFP) — Italian rider Michele Scarponi said he will look to legendary sprinter Alessandro Petacchi for inspiration after Lampre announced that he will lead their challenge on the Tour of Spain.

PARIS (AFP) — Dutch outfit Vacansoleil will line-up in this year'sp Vuelta a España without last year's runner-up Ezequiel Mosquera. The 35-year-old Spaniard took second place while riding for Xacobeo, but it was later revealed that he had tested positive for the banned substance Hydroxyethyl Starch, also known as HES, during an in-competition test at the race.

After being left out of the Tour de France and riding to a sub-par Giro d'Italia, it's all-in for Geox-TMC during the upcoming Vuelta a España.

Three grand-tour rookies are part of a slim North American contingent for this year's Vuelta a España that will likely include only four starting U.S. riders.

Bradley Wiggins hopes to erase the bad memories of his disappointing Tour de France with a strong comeback performance in the Vuelta a España.

LEON, Spain (VN) — Tom Boonen and Sylvain Chavanel headline Quick Step for the upcoming Vuelta a España.

Saxo Bank-Sungard has confirmed that it will have no Spanish riders in its line-up for this year's Vuelta a España, which starts next Saturday in Benidorm.

LEON, Spain (VN) — Call it the "rebound and reload tour."

2011 Vuelta a España preliminary startlist

Reigning world champion Thor Hushovd will not be racing the Vuelta a España with Garmin-Cervélo, a decision that team boss Jonathan Vaughters strongly defended for "what's best for the team."

Two more big names are confirmed for the Vuelta a España with Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) and Jurgen Van den Broeck.

PARIS (AFP) - Irish rider Nicolas Roche will lead the AG2R team in the forthcoming Tour of Spain the French outfit announced on Monday.

PARIS (AFP) - Kazakhstan's Andrey Kashechkin announced Thursday he would race the Vuelta a España this month with former team Astana, with whom he has signed a deal until the end of 2013.

Ezequiel Mosquera broke his silence Tuesday and demanded that his ongoing possible doping case be resolved one way or another.

Vuelta a Espana officials confirmed that four wildcard teams will start the 2011 edition of the Spanish tour, set to start Aug. 20 in Benidorm with a team time trial.

Vuelta a España officials said they will release their wild-card invitations to the 2011 edition in May and suggested it may follow the lead taken by the Giro d’Italia, which recently invited five extra teams to the corsa rosa.

The official route of the 2011 Vuelta a España will be revealed next week on January 12, but there’s been plenty of speculation in the Spanish media about details of the year’s third grand tour.

It looks like it will be another climbers’ delight for the 2011 Vuelta a España as new details of the likely route for next year’s Spanish tour are being revealed by local media.

Next year should be a good season for fans who like to watch others suffer on a bike.

Tejay Van Garderen had a big grin on his face when he crossed the finish line in Madrid in Sunday’s final stage at the 2010 Vuelta a España.

The 2010 Vuelta a España wrapped up Sunday with an thrilling sprint victory by Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) that capped what most agree was the most exciting and demanding Vuelta in years.

Tyler Farrar is confident ahead of the world championships after nabbing a straight up stage victory on the last day of the Vuelta

1. Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas-Doimo, in 87:18:33 2. Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez, Xacobeo Galicia, at 41 3. Peter Velits, Team HTC-Columbia, at 3:02 4. Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver, Team Katusha, at 4:20 5. Frank Schleck, Team Saxo Bank, at 4:43

After years in the trenches of obscure Portuguese and Spanish teams, the 34-year-old has a breakout performance in the 2010 Vuelta.

The 25-year-old Nibali rides with the cool head of a veteran, fending off a last-ditch assault from rival Ezequiel Mosquera.

1. Ezequiel Mosquera, Xacobeo Galicia, 4h 45' 28'' 2. Vincenzo Nibali, Liquigas-Doimo, at 1 3. Joaquin Rodriguez, Team Katusha, at 23 4. Frank Schleck, Team Saxo Bank, at 35 5. Xavier Tondo, Cervélo TestTeam, at 39

Three kilometers of a rough, seasonal cement road strewn along the top of a mountain ridge will crown the 2010 Vuelta a España champion.

1. Philippe Gilbert, Omega Pharma-Lotto, at 5:43:41 2. Tyler Farrar, Garmin-Transitions, same time 3. Filippo Pozzato, Team Katusha, s.t. 4. Sébastien Hinault, Ag2r La Mondiale, s.t. 5. Peter Velits, HTC-Columbia, s.t.

Ezequiel Mosquera (Xacobeo-Galicia) is poised for one of the biggest upsets in recent cycling history if he gains just 39 seconds on Saturday's stage in the Vuelta a España.

Theo Bos (Cervélo) has been released from the hospital following his horrific crash in Wednesday’s time trial at the Vuelta a España.

1. Mark Cavendish, HTC-Columbia, at 3:27:11 2. Juan Jose Haedo, Team Saxo Bank, same time 3. Manuel A. Leal Cardoso, Footon-Servetto-Fuji, s.t. 4. Tyler Farrar, Garmin-Transitions, s.t. 5. Samuel Dumoulin, Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne, s.t.

Ezequiel Mosquera is the man of the hour in more ways than one at the Vuelta a España.

HTC-Columbia’s Slovak speedster overpowers Denis Menchov and world champ Fabian Cancellara as Vincenzo Nibali races into red. Watch VeloCenter now!

Peter Velits (HTC-Columbia) was surprised as anyone that he won Wednesday’s 46km time trial at the Vuelta a España.

Tom Danielson (Garmin-Transitions) is poised for his best Vuelta a España ever following a time trial ride at Peñafiel that puts him within range of the top-5 overall.

Cervélo TestTeam is down to five riders in its final grand tour following the departure of both of the team’s sprinters.

1. Peter Velits, HTC-Columbia, at 52:43 2. Denis Menchov, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 0:12 3. Fabian Cancellara, Team Saxo Bank, at 0:37 4. Gustav Larsson, Team Saxo Bank, at 0:50 5. Luis León SÁnchez, Caisse D'Epargne, at 1:03

Wednesday’s 46km individual time trial will have double meaning as the Vuelta a España clicks back into gear following Tuesday’s rest day in north-central Spain.