THE STAGES

True to form, this year's Vuelta doesn't shy away from the high mountains and offers just two nailed-on sprint stages

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1 Saturday 23 August Turin > Novara | 186.1km | Flat

There will be a sense of whatever the Italian is for 'déjà vu' on this opening stage of the Vuelta in the region of Piemonte. Turin, in hosting the Gran Partida, becomes only the second city (following Utrecht) in Grand Tour history to feature in all three Grand Tours. The city hosted both the opening stage finish of last year's Giro and the third stage of the Tour.

From Turin, the riders head north and then east to Novara for that rarest of Vuelta stages: a flat opening stage, the first, in fact, since 2007. In an edition that is typically stingy to the sprinters, this is a chance for them to race not only for a stage win but for the honour of wearing the red jersey, so it'll surely have the fastmen extra fired up.

2 Sunday 24 August Alba > Limone Piemonte | 159.6km | Flat, uphill finish

The home of some of Italy's most celebrated wines and confectionery, Alba hosts stage two of the Vuelta. That wine-making territory won't feature prominently, as riders avoid the tricky terrain of the Langhe hills vineyards and instead head westwards towards the French border.

That's not to say that climbing is circumvented altogether, though. An otherwise easy day is abruptly disrupted by the category-two climb of Limone Piemonte. Rising at only 5% for 10km, it pales in comparison to the other nine summit finishes to come, but is still hard enough for the GC contenders to contend their first fight of the race. There won't be big time gaps, and the top favourites may all finish together in a large group, but in the uphill sprint for the line we'll get a first sense of who among them is feeling the freshest.