"This will be one of the hardest Vueltas" - Podium candidate Antonio Tiberi looks at Vuelta a Espana route with respect

Bahrain - Victorious goes all-out for the mountains at the upcoming Vuelta a Espana. After all, with only sparse sprinter opportunities, only a handful of teams dare to bring along their fast men. Fifth at this year's Giro d'Italia as well as the Youth category winner, Antonio Tiberi will be the ace up Bahrain's sleeve as they aim to redeem themselves for a failed Tour de France with a GC podium from Vuelta.

"This will be my third Vuelta and my first as captain," Tiberi realizes in a press release that the stakes are high after his Giro top-5. "After this year’s Giro d’Italia, the ambitions are high, but it is also true that it is the first time that I will do two Grand tours in the same year," he is well aware of the difficulty of racing two Grand tours at the best possible level in one season.

Thus he didn't want to underestimate a single detail in his preparation, taking a two-month break from racing after the Giro, only returning at Vuelta a Burgos last week: "After a good training camp at altitude and the Vuelta a Burgos, which helped me get back into race rhythm, I feel that my condition is starting to be good."

It is crystal clear that Vuelta parcours creators have a thing or two against sprinters, making every single stage a threat for general classifcation. Tiberi even goes as far as to call this year's rourte one of the hardest Vueltas. "It will certainly be one of the hardest Vueltas of recent years thanks to the many meters of difference in altitude that there will be, but if the conditions are good, I will be able to take advantage of it. I hope to be able to obtain similar or even better results than the Giro; certainly my commitment and that of the whole team will be the maximum."