2012 Vuelta a Burgos
The five-stage Vuelta a Burgos will cover 775km of northern Spain in its 2012 renewal, the 34th in its history. The first staging of the race came way back in 1946 but after the following year's event it did not reappear on the cycling calendar until 1981. It's been an annual event ever since and became part of the UCI Europe Tour in 2005.
Spanish winners dominate the race's honours board and in recent years it has been won by some of the current Spanish crop's biggest names - Alejandro Valverde (2009), Samuel Sanchez (2010) and Joaquim Rodriguez (2011). It will be tough test for the riders this year and the temperatures, which often push well into the mid 30s Celsius, will be a factor.
