Asturias beckons

The six-day Vuelta a Asturias will get underway tomorrow without local hero Samuel Sánchez present. After concluding the Ardennes Classics he'll now have a break and will have to forego his home race, but both Euskaltel and Orbea will hope to shine nonetheless. The race features a short ITT, one medium-mountain stage, two sprinter-friendly affairs and two proper sufferfests, including, for the very first time, the last-day Subida al Naranco, which was incorporated into the race this year due to financial problems. Euskaltel will be lead by Pablo Urtasun, who's a two-time stage-winner in this race, while Ricardo García carries most of Orbea's hopes for the event.

Euskaltel: Javier Aramendía, Pierre Cazaux, Iñaki Isasi, Gorka Izagirre, Juan José Oroz, Rubén Pérez, Daniel Sesma and Pablo Urtasun.

Orbea: Aritz Bagües, Mikel Bizkarra, Víctor Cabedo, Aritz Etxebarria, Ricardo García, Noel Martín, Adrián Sáez and Xabier Zabalo.