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The 2015 Vuelta a Andalucía (also known as the Ruta del Sol) was the 61st running of the Vuelta a Andalucía cycling stage race. It was rated as a 2.1 event on the 2015 UCI Europe Tour and was held from 18 to 22 February 2015, in the Andalusia region of southern Spain. Although the race lasted five days, there were six stages, with the first day split between two stages. The previous three editions of the Vuelta a Andalucía had been won by Alejandro Valverde (), but he chose to begin his season at the 2015 Tour of Oman instead. Chris Froome () and Alberto Contador () both chose to begin their 2015 seasons in Andalusia. Nairo Quintana () also intended to start his season at this race, but he pulled out following a crash. The race was closely contested by Contador and Froome. Contador took the lead in the race after the split first stage, beating Froome by eight seconds in the individual time trial. He then increased his lead in the general classification by winning the summit finish on stage 3. Froome, however, won the second summit finish on stage 4 to take the lead of the race by a two-second margin. He was able to defend this lead to the end of the race, so winning his first stage race since the previous May. Froome also won the points classification, and his team won the team classification, with four of their riders in the top 10 overall. The mountains classification was won by Pello Bilbao () on the final stage. Three stages of the race were won by the , two of them for Juan José Lobato and one for Javier Moreno, with the remaining stage won by Pim Ligthart (). == Preview == The Vuelta a Andalucía is a traditional early season race. Many riders in the modern peloton, however, choose to start their seasons in the Middle East rather than in Europe (the 2015 Tour of Oman ran at the same time). In 2015, these included Alejandro Valverde (), who had won the Vuelta a Andalucía in 2012, 2013 and 2014, so he was not present to defend his title. The Vuelta a Andalucía is particularly notable for its difficult, mountainous terrain. The 2015 edition, however, also featured an Individual time trial on the first day. The mountains were particularly difficult, with a summit finish at the ''Alto de Hazallanas'' on the third stage and another at ''Alto de Allanadas ''the following day. These three stages were seen as being the key to the general classification battle in the race. The 2015 Vuelta a Andalucía was seen as the first 2015 meeting of several Grand Tour riders. In particular, it was considered to be a renewing of the rivalry between Chris Froome () and Alberto Contador (), both of whom were starting their seasons in Andalusia. Their rivalry had been a notable feature of the 2014 cycling season, especially at the Critérium du Dauphiné and the Vuelta a España. For both riders, this race was preparation for other events in 2015. Froome was targeting his second victory in the Tour de France, while Contador was aiming at victory in both the Tour and the Giro d'Italia. Both riders were targeting victory in the race as a test of their form at the beginning of the season. While the riders were seen as being closely matched in the mountains, it was thought that Froome would have an advantage in the time trial.〔〔 Initially, Nairo Quintana () had also intended to start the race at the beginning of his European season, in preparation for the Tour de France. However, following his participation in the Tour de San Luis, Quintana was involved in a crash at the Colombian National Road Race Championships and pulled out of the Vuelta a Andalucía in order to recuperate. Other general classification contenders at the race included Jean-Christophe Péraud (), Bauke Mollema, Fränk Schleck (both ) and Jurgen Van den Broeck ().〔 The favourites for the three likely sprints included John Degenkolb () and Tyler Farrar ().〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2015 Vuelta a Andalucía」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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