Tonight the 70th running of Spain's grand tour got underway with the team presentation. It was a surprisingly low key affair. Held on a driving range between the white painted buildings of Benahavís and the arid hills beyond, each team was called to the stage, sometimes the riders were introduced by name, and then they were ushered off stage. Just a few riders were actually interviewed, which meant the evening moved along quite quickly and also that I didn't have much time to take too many photos other than general team shots.
For me the highlight of the night was the first five minutes after I'd arrived. Europcar had just walked by but the team's lone Canadian Antoine Duchesne was straggling, so I wished him good luck which made him grin from ear to ear. I kept walking towards the spectator area and Lotto Soudal were filing by, trying to dodge the active sprinkler on the football pitch behind us when Adam Hansen stopped to say hi. He is without a doubt one of the nicest guys in the peloton, which is saying a lot because there really are a lot of nice guys out there, so it meant a lot to me that after we'd met briefly at so many races, he took the time to have a proper, non hurried conversation. Thanks, Adam.
MTN Qhubeka.
Lotto Jumbo.
Lampre.
IAM.
Etixx Quick Step.
Spaniard David de la Cruz was one of the first riders to be interviewed all evening.
Caja Rural have enjoyed a winning season so far and will look to continue their success over the next three weeks.
AG2R.
Europcar.
Colombia.
Jimmy Engoulvent, Antoine Duchesne, and Yukiya Arashiro of Europcar walk back to their bus behind a casual AG2R squad.
Orica Green Edge.
I'm not sure how many of you followed the Eurovision Song Contest back in May but Spain won and had the singer preform between teams.
Cannondale Garmin.
While I don't normally condone the use of selfie sticks, I'll make an exception just this once.
Cofidis.
Giant Alepcin.
FDJ.
Trek.
Astana.
Vincenzo Nibali.
Cue musical interlude.
Lotto Soudal.
BMC's Marcus Burghardt guiding Darwin Atapuma into place so as to be in alphabetical order. Or maybe it was height order??
Samu Sanchez, Atapuma, and Burghardt.
Tinkoff Saxo.
Katusha.
Movistar.
Race favorites and Tour de France podium finishers Alejandro Valverde and Nairo Quintana.
Sky.
Chris Froome has said he's not in top form after winning the Tour de France a second time but he's got teammates like Ian Boswell looking after him and Sergio Henao to put to work in the mountains.
