Who are the bookies's favourites for the Vuelta a España 2021?
Who do the bookies tip to take red in Santiago de Compostela
The third and final Grand Tour of the season, the Vuelta a España, is not far away with some of the world's best riders all down to ride - but who are the bookies tipping as their favourites?
The Vuelta sets off from Burgos on August 14 with a heated battle over the general classification expected to take place. Defending champion Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) will be keen to win a third Vuelta in a row but he will face a challenge from 2021 Giro d'Italia winner Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers).
However, this isn't as easy as picking two big names and moving on. There are multiple riders who could be in with a chance of taking the title.
Bernal's team-mates could easily be involved with Tour de France 2021 third place finisher Richard Carapaz, Adam Yates and Pavel Sivakov all down to ride.
But also Mikel Landa, Jack Haig, Damiano Caruso and Wout Poels (all Bahrain Victorious), Movistar's usual trident of Miguel Ángel López, Enric Mas and Alejandro Valverde, Hugh Carthy (EF-Nippo), Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech), Paris-Nice champion Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), to name a few.
Roglič is unsurprisingly the bookies main man as his odds sit at 11/10 with Bernal just behind on 11/2.
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Ineos Grenadiers have the next two spots with Carapaz and Yates with their odds at 9/1 and 16/1. Sivakov gets 33/1.
Landa comes into this looking like he's on top form after winning the Vuelta a Burgos, the Vuelta a España will only be his third race back since crashing out of the Giro, though, he is next in line at 18/1. His team-mate, Caruso is back from his amazing second overall at the Giro with odds sat at 50/1.
The usual Movistar trio of leaders has not worked often for the Spanish team, but they will be hoping they can have all three of their main men firing in the mountains, of which there are many in this race. López is the highest place of the three with Mas just behind on 20/1 and 22/1 respectively.
EF Education-Nippo look to throw the disappointment of the Tour out of the window with Hugh Carthy, 20/1, who comes into the Vuelta after winning the final stage of the Vuelta a Burgos.
Astana-Premier Tech look to be focused on the one man with Vlasov likely making his last appearance for the team from Kazakhstan before leaving to join the German team, Bora-Hansgrohe in 2022, the Russian is at 33/1.
Speaking of Bora-Hansgrohe, Max Schachmann has yet to show he has the ability to lead over three weeks but he will be keen to show he isn't just a new Mr Paris-Nice. He has been given huge odds of 325/1.
Other riders who are more on the outsider list are the likes of Lucas Hamilton (BikeExchange), 325/1, Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 1000/1, Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), 175/1 and Rafał Majka (UAE Team Emirates), 80/1.
VUELTA A ESPAÑA 2021 ODDS (WINNER - ODDSCHECKER)
Primož Roglič (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma, 11/10
Egan Bernal (Col) Ineos Grenadiers, 11/2
Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers, 9/1
Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, 16/1
Mikel Landa (Esp) Team Bahrain Victorious, 18/1
Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-Nippo, 20/1
Miguel Ángel López (Col) Movistar Team, 22/1
Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar Team, 28/1
Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech, 33/1
Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Ineos Grenadiers, 33/1
All odds correct at time of publication
Tim Bonville-Ginn is a freelance writer who has worked with Cycling Weekly since 2020 and has also written for many of the biggest publications in cycling media including Cyclingnews, Rouleur, Cyclist and Velo.