The final Grand Tour of 2015 is about to get under way and it's got the makings of a good one, with some heavy hitters out to prove themselves. It's the last chance at glory for those who've had a disappointing season so far, and it's also a hugely important opportunity for the five wildcard entries that will race alongside the 17 World Tour teams over the next three weeks.
Spanish Pro Continental team Caja Rural-Seguros RGA is one of those five, and we had a nose round the outfit's vehicles as the team was preparing to roll out for one last training ride the morning before the Vuelta begins. Faced with the immense logistical challenge that supporting nine pros over 3357km of racing presents, there was no particular sense of tension or anxiety – despite our best efforts to get in the way.
Take a look at the huge gallery above for an insight into what keeps a pro team on the road.
Matthew Loveridge (formerly Allen) is BikeRadar's former senior writer, an experienced mechanic, and an expert on bike tech who appreciates practical, beautifully-engineered things. Originally a roadie, he likes bikes and kit of every type, including gravel bikes and mountain bikes, and he's tested a huge variety of all three over the years for BikeRadar, Cycling Plus, Cyclist.co.uk and others. He looks like he should be better at cycling than he actually is, and he's ok with that.
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