Starting next Sunday, February 13, the fifth edition of the Vuelta a Andalucia, also known as the Ruta del Sol will take the professional peloton from Benalmádena to Chiclana de la Frontera by February 17, covering a little more than 800 km. German team T-Mobile is using the Spanish stage race to shape up its Classics riders, and Fassa Bortolo is sending its best sprint train to go for stage wins. All in all, the riders will tackle 12 categorised mountains during the race: three Cat. 1, two Cat. 2 and seven Cat. 3 climbs. Discovery Channel will also be participating in the event, sending "Triki" Beltran as team leader for general classification.
Racing the Ruta del Sol 2005 will be:
