NIBALI TARGETS GIRO, VUELTA DOUBLE

MADRID, Community of Madrid, Aug 23, 2013 (AFP) - Giro d'Italia winner Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) will aim to back up his win on home soil back in May with a second success in the Tour of Spain when the final grand tour of the season gets underway on Saturday.

The 28-year-old should be fresh after deciding against participating in the Tour de France and that could be key during a demanding three-week tour that encompasses 11 mountain top finishes.

Most daunting of all those climbs is likely to be that up the Alto de l'Angliru on the penultimate stage that includes as 23 percent gradient climb in the final few kilometres.

And Nibali believes a few demanding stages could make all the difference come the procession into Madrid on September 15.

“The Vuelta is a very difficult race this year,” he said. “There are some really important stages, like l'Angliru, that will be decisive for the final classification, and a lot of riders up for the chal- lenge.”Nibali's quest for success will be helped by the fact that three of the top four finishers from this year's Tour de France; Chris Froome (Sky), Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and two-time winner Alberto Contador (SaxoTinkoff) will not be taking part.

And the Italian is convinced he will also have the team around him to help guide him to victory.

“One attack by Contador changed the results of the entire Vuelta last year. “Stages like that are a little bit extraordinary, but they are extraordinarily difficult as well. They happen when everybody is looking for an advantage, and when a team is strong enough to go to the front and do something exceptional. “I think we have a really strong team, and I think we are going to race extremely well at the Vuelta.”In Contador's absence, Spanish hopes will be pinned of 2009 winner Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Joaquim “Purito” Rodriguez (Katusha), who came third behind Valverde and Contador in last year's race.