Ivan Basso missed both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France due to a cyst but will now finally get his chance to race a grand tour this season. The Italian veteran has been selected as the sole leader of the Cannondale team and targets the only grand tour podium which has so far eluded him.

Ivan Basso has had some difficult seasons since his 2010 Giro d'Italia win. A crash hampered his preparation for the 2011 Tour de France and last year he had similar bad luck in the build up to the Giro d'Italia and ultimately finished 5th in an event where he had targeted the win.

This year all was set for a big return to grand tour glory in the Giro but a cyst ruled him out of the race just a few days prior to the start. Having also been forced to miss the Tour, he set his sights on the Vuelta a Espana.

He has now been selected as the Cannondale leader for the Spanish grand tour and will target a podium spot. He has only raced the Spanish grand tour once, in 2009 when he finished 4th in his first season back from suspension. This time he has finally had a smooth build-up and proved splendid condition in the Vuelta a Burgos where he finished 3rd on the big queen stage.

His main support rider in the mountains will be Caeytano Jose Sarmiento who also performed well in Burgos, finishing 9th overall. Cameron Wurf should also be able to stay close to his captain when the going gets tough.

Pole Maciej Paterski will start the race on the back of a very solid showing in the Eneco Tour where he finished 3rd on the queen stage in the Ardennes while veteran Paolo Longo Borghini will be a key support rider on the flat stages.

The team also lines up a number of fast riders for the sprint stages. Canadian talent will make his grand tour debut, having recently acted as lead-out man for Elia Viviani at the Eneco Tour. Daniele Ratto will be the main for the harder sprints as the Italian has vowed to take his revenge for the relegation that saw him miss out on the stage win in the Vuelta a Burgos.

Lucas Sebastian Haedo will race his first grand tour since joining Cannondale prior to the season while Tiziano Dall'Antonia completes the roster, the Italian being a good rider for the sprint train and a solid domestique for Basso on the flat stages.

The Vuelta starts on Saturday with a team time trial in Galicia.

Cannondale for the Vuelta a Espana

Ivan Basso, Lucas Haedo, Tiziano Dall'Antonia, Guillaume Boivin, Daniele Ratto, Maciej Paterski, Cameron Wurf, Paolo Longo Borghini and Cayetano Jose Sarmiento