Juan Antonio Flecha tips Vincenzo Nibali for Vuelta victory - backs Simon Yates to shine

Previewing the competition in a Q&A, Flecha suggested that the Italian could be a contender for victory - and also named Miguel Angel Lopez and Simon Yates as riders to watch.

There are nine summit finishes but the ones the fans are really going to need to be looking at are the stages 13, 14 and 15, because those three stages will have very steep gradient final climbs - especially stage 14, there is a short descent before the final climb for 4km. It’s a very dangerous and hard course as well, and the next day, they will have another hard one. So like in every Grand Tour you have three very difficult stages one after the other and that is something not to miss. And during the Vuelta a Espagna those three are very nice and very exciting to watch.

But in general apart from that, there will obviously be the time trials. So after those three days they will have a time trial, and then the final two days in Andorra which will be the final opportunity to ride to try to get the victory in Madrid. But for sure, those three stages I mentioned will be the most dangerous ones. And during the first week, everyone will be affected by the heat. You have to remember the Vuelta starts in the south of Spain and so it’s going to be really hot the first week. So the riders will really have to manage that or else they can really pay for it already in the first week. If you get sick, you’re never going to recover from that.

The Vuelta, you really have to put in the context of where it is at the end of the season, so the riders already come like on the edge and that’s when they need to look after their health the most, even more closely than during other Grand Tours. They don’t have many resources left, it’s the end of the season. And after facing such extreme weather during the first week, they’re really going to have to look after themselves. That’s pretty much what I would say about the Vuelta, a very hot and difficult first week with a first mountain finish. We don’t even know how the wind is going to be on stage 6. Normally it shouldn’t be windy, but if there is wind everything gets that much more complicated. Then the second week with all the steep stages, and then the final week with the two Andorra stages. And I forgot, there is also stage 17 in the last week, another summit finish and the day after the time trial. I would say from stage 13 to stage 17, that’s where the Vuelta is going to be decided.

The good thing about La Vuelta is that there are plenty of guys looking good for it. There’s no Contador, or Froome, but there are guys like Nibali, which will be exciting to see how he’s recovered from his Tour de France crash. It might be hard to put him as favourite for the final victory but I do believe he can do it. He’s a rider that is super competitive, and he’ll be thinking about the World Championship. And he’s got a great chance in the Vuelta to achieve a good result.

Apart from him I really like Miguel Angel Lopez who was third in the Giro this year and who’s already shown great form last year in La Vuelta. I really think that he’s going to confirm again this year, so he’s definitely one to watch. And why not Simon Yates after, who’s had enough time to have forgotten about the Giro d’Italia, and learn about that and realise what he achieved at the Giro, and this will be a great test for him and I believe he’ll be in the top two riders to watch during the Vuelta. So those are my top three to watch during the Vuelta, Yates, Lopez, and Nibali.

De la Cruz, he’s a great rider, he was with the red jersey for a few stages last year. He’s performed very well this year. He’s a great rider who’s going to have to see how he feels with the responsibility of the expectations - not just the leader of Team Sky, but also the Spanish hope on the Vuelta. That’s something we have to see, how much he’s capable of carrying on his shoulders. He’s only one of a handful of Spanish riders to be at the top right now.

And Valverde, obviously a great rider, and he’ll definitely have a push, but going for the final victory seems a bit difficult. I’m not saying he’s not going to be there, and that he’s not going to be fighting for the victory but he had a great first part of the season but I don’t know how much he prepared for this Tour, or what pick he is in his team. His form is great but it’s less than we showed at the beginning of the year. We all know Valverde is great when he’s fit, but we don’t know if he’ll be the first or second pick, after being third during the Tour. And I have a feeling he’ll be second pick. But we’ll see what he does during the Vuelta, but he’s been racing a lot, we saw him at the Giro d’Italia, he didn’t contend for long, so that’s why I’m pointing at other riders.