The Vuelta a Burgos has never had so much attention as in 2020. Being the first big stage race post-Coronavirus lock down, all eyes turn to northern Spain.

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This tough race is typically a warm-up for the Vuelta a España. It maintained its same spot on the 2020 calendar, it never had to postpone, but the races following it have been shuffled. Now this event, besides being a fight for victory itself, will reveal who's hot and who's not prior to Milano-Sanremo, the Critérium du Dauphiné, and the Tour de France.

The Course

It has everything you need in five days from July 28 to August 1. The punchy opening stage should see small time gaps already on day one. Near Burgos, the group will finish at Alto del Castillo. It's a third category closing climb up to the Castle near Burgos.

Sprinters will celebrate stages two and four. The days, both around 165km, cover the plains around Burgos or the meseta. It'll be hot, and only the spinsters will have their thirsts satisfied.

Stages three and five suit the climbers and GC hitters. The last 7.8km of the third day climbs 752 metres with tough 14% grades in the end.

The fifth day climbs up to 1400m at Lagunas de Neila. It's 14km at 5.5%. The finish is slightly less jarring than stage 3, but still this is a series opening stage race for all the participants.

The Participants

The big guns will be in Spain for the 42nd edition. Richard Carapaz will likely lead Ineos with no word yet on 2019 winner and teammate Ivan Sosa. Mitchelton-Scott will bring the Yates twins, Bahrain-McLaren will count on Mikel Landa and Wout Poels.

But who do we expect to shine? Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) will continue his winning ways, picking up after ending the early season with a summit win in Paris-Nice. Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-Quick Step) will continue to blossom after winning the overall in Argentina and Algarve. A show of force should come from home team Movistar with Enric Mas, Marc Soler and Alejandro Valverde, and Jumbo-Visma's Sepp Kuss and George Bennett should be right at the sharp end as well.