by Christophe Lehousse

Benidorm, Spain, Aug 19, 2011 (AFP) – Champion Vincenzo Nibali of Italy opens his Tour of Spain defense starting here on Saturday in a race which will be without big names such as Alberto Contador, Cadel Evans and brothers Andy and Frank Schleck.

Contador, worn out by back-to-back Giro d’Italia and Tour de France campaigns, is still awaiting the judgement of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after his failed drug test and has opted not to compete in the third big Tour of the season.

The Luxembourg Schleck brothers, who finished second and third in the Tour de France behind Evans, have both opted to skip the Vuelta to focus on their preparations for the world championships in Copenhagen in September.

Liquigas’s Nibali, winner last year and third in the last two editions of the Giro, is among the favorites for the three-week race around Spain along with Spanish pair Igor Anton (Euskaltel) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha).

Rodriguez, who finished fourth last year, admitted he was feeling confident.

“I’ve worked a lot on the time-trial this season. Last year I lost the Vuelta on this exercise,” said Rodriguez.

The Spanish rider also estimated that Denis Menchov, winner in 2005 and 2007, and the Russian’s Geox teammate Carlos Sastre of Spain were potential winners.

Climbing specialist Anton crashed out while wearing the leader’s pink jersey last year but will be helped by the mountainous aspect of this year’s race with ten mountain stages and six summit finishes.

The race will also pass through his native Basque Country for the first time in 33 years, as organisers had stayed away amid fears of protests from Basque separatists which marred the last appearance in the region in 1978.

Also among the hopefuls will be Slovenia’s Janez Brajkovic of RadioShack; Italy’s Michele Scarponi (Lampre), second behind Contador in the Giro, and Britain’s Olympic pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins, who pulled out of the Tourde France after the seventh stage last month after fracturing his collarbone.

The highlights of this year’s race should be the arrival on the summit of the Manzaneda in Galica, as well as the mythical Angliru in Asturias.