Vuelta a España organizer Unipublic released a preliminary start list for the three-week national tour, which begins on September 1 with a team time trial in Vigo, Spain.

Americans Christian Vande Velde (CSC), Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto) and Tom Danielson (Discovery) are scheduled to start the race. Horner and Vande Velde both completed the Tour de France last month. Americans Tyler Farrar (Cofidis) and Jason McCartney (Discovery) are listed as reserves for their respective teams.

The Vuelta initially appeared as a weakened race with the entire podium not returning this year. However, with the recent announcements that Cadel Evans and Damiano Cunego would race, the Vuelta may perhaps meet expectations this year. Also contending will be Denis Menchov, Carlos Sastre, Oscar Pereiro, Vladimir Karpets, Samuel Sanchez, Haimar Zubeldia, Manuel Beltran, Juan Manuel Garate, José Angel Gomez Marchante, Juan Jose Cobo, and Leonardo Piepoli. Add to that the certainty that the sprints will be very exciting with Tom Boonen, Erik Zabel, Oscar Freire, World Champion Paolo Bettini, Alessandro Pettachi, Daniele Bennati, and Davide Rebellin all taking part. It’s a shame Robbie McEwen will not attend.

If the Vuelta were anything like this year’s Giro and Tour, look for plenty of action from the wildcard teams: Andalucia-Cajasur, Karpin Galicia, and Relax-GAM. I’m sure there may be a rider or two from those teams that we have never heard of that will get our attention.