Blazin' Saddles: 10 things to look out for during the 2017 Vuelta A Espana

Coming so soon after the Tour de France, the Vuelta organisers haven't even bothered to leave the country. Kicking things off is a 13.7km team time trial in the scenic city of Nimes in the Occitanie region of southern France. To make Spanish fans feel at home, the start ramp will be inside a splendid Roman amphitheatre which was remodelled in 1863 to serve as a bullring.

Eschewing the nearby hills of the Cevennes, stage 2 sees the riders embark on the race's solitary pan-flat leg before the riders enter Spain in stage 3 ahead of a finish in Andorra with the first major climbs.

If the Tour was criticised for its paltry three summit finishes from 23 categorised climbs, then the Vuelta swings the other way with seven summit showdowns and half a century of climbs. The tone is set as early as stage 3 which features two Cat.1 ascents ahead of a downhill finish in Andorra.

There are two stages which finish above 2,000m including stage 15 to the Sierra Nevada mountains and the penultimate day tussle on the Alto de l''Angliru and its infamous 24% peak gradient – a climb so savage that it once inspired Kelme boss Vincente Belda to say: "What do they want? Blood? They ask us to stay clean and avoid doping and then they make the riders tackle this kind of barbarity."

Three times runner-up in Spain, Chris Froome tops the list of favourites after winning his fourth Tour last month. Challenging the Sky rider will be other stars of the Tour including triple champion Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo), 2015 winner Fabio Aru (Astana), last year's podium finisher Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott), Louis Meintjes (UAE Team Emirates) and debutant Romain Bardet (Ag2R-La Mondiale).

Fresher than that lot – but arguably part of a relatively weak Bahrain Merida outfit – 2010 champion Vincenzo Nibali returns to the fray; the Italian having only amassed eight race days since finishing third in the Giro back in May.

The list of outsiders is longer than Thomas Voeckler's tongue with the likes of Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin), Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe), Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2R-La Mondiale), George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo), the Tour's polka dot uphill animator Warren Barguil (Team Sunweb) and Dutch duo Wilco Keldeman (Team Sunweb) and Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo).

Dutchman Wout Poels will be on hand as Sky's Plan B should Froome come a cropper, while British brothers Adam and Simon Yates turn out for Orica-Scott for the first time in a Grand Tour since the 2015 Tour de France – their careers have gone stratospheric since then.

It's fair to say that the battle for the leader's red jersey should be fairly animated – even if Froome seems odds on to build on his July success and become the first man to win the Tour-Vuelta double in the modern era, since the race switched to its current pre-Worlds slot on the calendar.

Before dropping off the podium at the 11th hour last year, Contador had only ever been victorious in his home race – with three victories in as many Vueltas. This year, the Spaniard's fifth Vuelta appearance and 18th Grand Tour will be his last after the 34-year-old rider announced his impending retirement.

Say what you like about Contador, but he's been the consummate entertainer through the year – not least on Spanish soil. From Fuenté De to last year's Formigal ambush, Contador has set the Vuelta alight with his attacks and panache.

If El Pistolero has been firing blanks of late, he'll make sure he goes down fighting over the next three weeks. While the overall victory seems beyond Contador, a first Grand Tour stage win since 2015 would be a fitting send off for a great animator.

From one stage-shy Trek-Segafredo rider to another – and could a parcours that offers slim pickings for the sprinters re-open the door to the man who has notched 10 Vuelta scalps in his career to date?

Victories have been few and far between for Degenkolb since the Giant-Shimano training incident which saw him almost lose a finger in early 2016. But a couple of podium finishes in the Tour showed that the German is still capable with mixing it with the best – and in this Vuelta, the best won't be in the mix.

With just three flat stages with guaranteed bunch sprints and a couple of lumpier affairs which should still entertain a mass fast finish, the 2017 route offers slim pickings for the sprinters. That's reflected in the roster of talent – with the Kittels, Greipels, Gavirias, Ewans, Cavendishes and even Sagans giving the race a wide berth.

Looking to take advantage of the few pieces of low-hanging fruit is the versatile Degenkolb, whose rivals will include the likes of Magnus Cort Nielsen (Orica-Scott), Sacha Modolo (UAE Team Emirates), Matteo Trentin (Quick-Step Floors), Adam Blythe (Aqua Blue Sport) and his old water-bottle-in-Qatar foe Jens Debusschere (Lotto Soudal).

If the German can't nick at least one win then he should wake up and smell the Segafredo coffee.

With Team Sky back in their traditional black kit and Trek – we suppose – also reverting to their usual red and black, the path is clear for the wildcard Aqua Blue Sport to try something different. Gone is their stylish blue strip in favour of a white and gold number which, admittedly, looks every bit as sartorially sound.

But perhaps the pick of the bunch is Larry Warbasse's American national champions togs, which do look quite resplendent.

Warbasse is also sporting the stars and stripes on his shoes – and the result is enough to make fashion-conscious team-mate Blythe go green with envy.

With so many climbs on the menu, the battle for the blue polka dot jersey will be fierce. Spaniard Fraile has been crowned king of the mountains for the past two years and will be gunning for a third title before he leaves Dimension Data for Astana.

Fraile put in a good display in the hills in the Giro, where he finished third in the KOM standings and won a stage. But the 27-year-old will face stiff opposition from some actual mountain goats – most notably the likes of Majka and Barguil, the last two winners of the Tour's maillot à pois.

The first ever Vuelta in 1935 saw Gustaaf Deloor triumph with the help of his older brother Alfons – and a year later, the two Belgian brothers returned to occupy the first two spots on the podium. This feat was repeated in 1950 when Emilio Rodriguez won the Vuelta ahead of his brother Manolo – five years after a third Rodriguez, Delio, had stood atop the podium.

There's no denying that the Vuelta brings out the best in siblings – and with such a roster of talent on the startlist this year, it seems like everyone and their brother is there. Quite literally.

This year twins Adam and Simon Yates join forces for Orica-Scott for the first time since the 2015 Tour, Antonio Nibali – brother of Vincenzo – makes his Grand Tour debut for Bahrain Merida while both Anthony and Jimmy Turgis take a bow for Cofidis.

But the startlist is also misleading. Adam Hansen makes his 19th consecutive Grand Tour appearance but he's no relation to unrelated Danes Jesper Hansen (Astana) and Lasse Norman Hansen (Aqua Blue Sport).

The same can be said of Australians William and Simon Clarke at Cannondale-Drapac, Spaniards Javi and Dani Moreno (Bahrain Merida and Movistar respectively) and Enric and Lluis Mas (Quick-Step Floors and Caja Rural). And, of course, there's also Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and BMC's Samuel Sanch– oh wait…

If cycling fans have a lot to be excited about then it's hard to put a finger on what is the genuine queen stage of the race. Could it be the one which culminates in 35 near-relentless kilometres of uphill climbing?

Or the penultimate day showdown on the comedic double-digit ramps of the Angliru?

And while the opening week of the Tour de France was characterised by a series of dull flat stages that featured 200+ kilometres of mind-numbing foreplay ahead of a Kittel climax, the Vuelta – ironically, once it bids France adieu – features unpredictable undulating terrain littered with banana skins for the GC men.

And finally, a word about the team which usually dominates on the home roads of Spain. With both defending champion Nairo Quintana and the ever-green swashbuckler Alejandro Valverde absent, as well as new-signing Mikel Landa, Movistar have named a young, experimental but intriguing team for the Vuelta – opening the door to many of their second-tier talent.

With four debutants and five riders less than 26 years of age, Movistar have named one of the youngest squads in the Vuelta – pretty impressive given Moreno's advanced 35 years. While Carlos Betancur has a rare chance to lead the team, much is expected from climbers Marc Soler and Ruben Fernandez. Just don't expect the team to do very well in the opening TTT.

Movistar's inexperienced team is a reflection on the race in general where a staggering 61 riders qualify to fight for the youth classification.

1. Chris Froome

2. Fabio Aru

3. Vincenzo Nibali

4. Alberto Contador

5. Ilnur Zakarin

6. Adam Yates

7. Rafal Majka

8. Wout Poels

9. David De La Cruz

10. rp,aom Bardet