Jerez de la Frontera, on the Spanish south coast, hosted the opening stage.

The Vuelta then went counterclockwise, through the south-east and east of the country before crossing the north and finishing in Santiago de Compostela.

Like Contador, Froome also went into the race uncertain of his form after he crashed three times in two days during the Tour, leading to his withdrawal.

The blue polka-dot jersey for the mountains classification was taken by Spaniard Luis León Sánchez of Caja Rural–Seguros RGA.

After abandoning the Tour de France, Chris Froome[4] and Alberto Contador[5] announced they would compete in the Vuelta.

[6] Other possible contenders could emerge from Wilco Kelderman, Carlos Betancur, Fabio Aru, Thibaut Pinot, Ryder Hesjedal, Rigoberto Urán, Andrew Talansky and Dan Martin.

The day before the Vuelta began, Chris Horner was withdrawn from the race due to low levels of cortisol.

This is because Lampre Merida (UAE Team Emirates XRG) are part of the Mouvement pour un cyclisme crédible (MPCC) which forbids cyclists from racing when cortisol concentrations drop below a specified threshold.