The history of the Vuelta a Espana is full of racers who were sent there against their will.

Who had not applied to their team bosses for three weeks of cranking in the late summer heat.

On a route that is always peppered with particular hardships, as with the other two major state tours.

Except that the attention and importance of the Tour of Spain are not quite as great.

The Vuelta is something of the less glamorous but almost as elusive cousin of the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France.

After all, things are a little more relaxed under the wings of this cousin.

At the last state tour of the year, the pros often say “tranquillo, tranquillo” instead of just “venga, venga!”.

This year the Vuelta is also a show run for the old stars.

Six professionals who know what it feels like to stand on a podium in the middle of Madrid on a Sunday evening in a winning jersey are taking part: Alejandro Valverde (2009 winner), Vincenzo Nibali (2010), Chris Froome (2011 and 2017), Nairo Quintana (2016), who was subsequently disqualified from the Tour de France on Wednesday because of a painkiller offense and will not start at the Vuelta either (see box at the end of the text), Simon Yates (2018), Primoz Roglic (2019 to 2021).

Valverde will be in the spotlight

For the Spaniard Valverde and the 37-year-old Italian Nibali, who belongs to the exclusive club of drivers who have been able to win all three major national tours, it will also be the last Grand Tour before switching to cycling retirement.

Valverde will be the main focus of this 3,280-kilometre tour, which is enriched with nine mountain top finishes.

The questions of how long he still wants to work at the highest level in the final arc of his long career, which has been shaped by sporting triumphs and doping shadows, have been with him forever.

Now he is 42 years old, and his decision to say goodbye to the professional cycling business at the end of the year, which had offered him an almost lifelong home, should be final.

"More important than age for me is that I've been at the highest level in the professional peloton for 20 years," said Valverde, whose departure will mean a turning point for Spanish cycling.

"It's so hard to achieve something like this, both physically and mentally, that I'm really surprised I'm still doing so well.

When I was younger I thought that by the time I was 34 I would be out of the running.”

Now, from this Friday, Valverde will take on his sixteenth Vuelta and his 32nd Grand Tour in total.

A home game that begins with a guest game.

Like the Giro (in Hungary) and the Tour (in Denmark) earlier in the year, the Vuelta does not start in its heartland.

The first three (flat) stages – starting with a team time trial in Utrecht – take place in the Netherlands.

Top favorites Roglic and Carapaz

Valverde's terrain comes as the entourage translates to the Basque Country on Monday's first day of rest.

He, the longtime leader of Spanish side Movistar, will be sure to win the hearts of his home fans.

Even if he is no longer "El Imbatido" (the invincible) and no longer aims for the classification, but for stage wins.

The doyen from Murcia is a cycling relic that hasn't been eroded by the ravages of time, but still delivers results, as the second places in Strade Bianche and Liège-Bastogne-Liège proved in the spring.

A cycling relic that used to ride bikes with Armstrong and Ullrich and probably also shared their methods of increasing performance.

Valverde's blood was also once stored in the practice of the notorious doctor Fuentes - a DNA analysis confirmed this.

In the spring of 2009 he was banned from all races in Italy, in the late summer of the same year he triumphed at the Vuelta, and in mid-2010 he was completely withdrawn from cycling for two years retrospectively at the beginning of the year.

Last year at the Vuelta, Valverde fell down a cliff after a fall.

With a broken collarbone, he stood crying, leaning on his handlebars at the side of the road.

Images that should not be repeated now. Roglic's typical season pattern could be repeated, which looks like this: A tour disappointment is followed by a Vuelta win.

That's how it has been for the Slovenian in the past three years, who is now the top favorite again in Spain after his fall-related exit in France.

Also because he has the strong team Jumbo-Visma behind him.

Roglic's toughest opponent for the red jersey could be Olympic champion Richard Carapaz (Ineos).

Whether the Belgian super talent Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step) has what it takes to shine in three-week tours is one of the most exciting questions of the race, in which the German pros will probably only play supporting roles.

In the absence of the sick Emanuel Buchmann, Pascal Ackermann (UAE Emirates) could make an appearance on sprint finishes.

19-year-old Marco Brenner (DSM) is riding his first Grand Tour ever.

Buchmann's German team Bora-hansgrohe relies on the Colombian Sergio Higuita and the Australian Giro winner Jai Hindley for the overall ranking.