When does a route become too hard? I think this could be it, and it’s not good for the race. The organisers have put together a race with 61,522m of climbing, compare that to 46,664 at the Giro and 53,618 at the Tour, this Vuelta has a ridiculous amount of elevation gain. It will likely lead to a lot of negative racing and a substantial number of breakaway wins, but what do I know. The big news is Roglič is here, he’s looking to win his 4^th red jersey, which would put him equal with Roberto Heras as the most successful rider in Vuelta history. Looking to stop him will be the defending champion, and former teammate, Sepp Kuss, and UAE are here with Adam Yates and Almeida. It promises (I hope) to be the closest grand tour of the year.