La Vuelta

As it looks now, the favorites come from a mix of Spanish (Carlos
Sastre, Samuel Sánchez, Oscar Pereiro and Angel Gómez Marchante) and a
handful of foreign riders who roll into the Vuelta with unclear
ambitions.

Cadel Evans, fresh off second in the Tour de France, 2005 winner Denis
Menchov and 2004 Giro champ Damiano Cunego are enter the Vuelta with
chances to win, but we'll have to wait to see if they have the legs or
the motivation to try.

Discovery Channel - in its swan song grand tour before closing its
doors at the end of the season - could be the surprise with the likes
of Janez Brajkovic, Stijn Devolder and Tom Danielson hoping to give
the American team a winning sendoff.

Many riders use the Vuelta as a trampoline for the world
championships. Both Tom Boonen and Paolo Bettini won their respective
world titles after racing the Vuelta and, not surprisingly, both are
back are this year.

A herd of world-class sprinters - Boonen, Bettini, Alessandro
Petacchi, Erik Zabel, Daniele Bennati, Allan Davis and Oscar Freire -
should keep the racing interesting in the transition stages.
from velo news--------------