The HTC-Columbia team sets out on its winning ride(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The final 2010 Vuelta a Espana podium: Ezequiel Mosquera, Vincenzo Nibali and Peter Velits.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Vincenzo Nibali dwarfed by the Vuelta podium(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
The 2011 Vuelta a España is set to begin with a team time trial in Benidorm. The announcement was made on Monday by Gema Amor, the director general of the Costa Blanca Tourism Board.
According to ABC.es, Amor said that the event will be “first class” and aimed towards promoting tourism in the Costa Blanca region. Her statement came at a breakfast meeting between tourism industry representatives and the media in Benidorm.
The 2011 Vuelta begins on August 27 and full details of the Benidorm team time trial will be unveiled along with the rest of the route in Alicante on January 12
It is understood that the opening three days of the race will take place in the Costa Blanca, while the race has also been tipped to make a return to the fearsome Alto de Angliru in the final week. The Vuelta will also visit the Basque Country for the first time in 33 years, with stage finishes in Bilbao and Vitoria.
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Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.
