The sprinters have endured an unusually long wait before getting to their first opportunity in this year's mountainous Vuelta but their struggles have finally come to a temporary end. Tomorrow's 5th stage offers the first flat finish of the race and despite the presence of two long climbs, it should all come down to the first big bunch sprint of the race. Starting at 15.00 CEST you can follow the stage on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

The course

The sprinters should breathe a sigh of relief on the fifth day when they will finally get their first real opportunity. Paradoxically, the expected bunch sprint comes at the end of what will be the hilliest stage so far with no less than 3190m of climbing.

From the start in Sober, the first part is rather flat as the riders head in an eastern direction to finally leave the Galician coast for good. After 57,2km, the terrain gets more hilly when the riders face a long non-categorized ascent which leads to the bottom of the category 3 Alto do Covelo (10,9km, 4%). It is followed by a descent and some slightly rolling terrain which is more up- than downhill. At the 132km mark, the riders will start the category 3 Padomelo (11km, 2,6%) whose top is located 31,3km from the finish. From there, a long descent follows while the final part of the stage offers rolling terrain with some smaller climbs inside the final 10km.

From the 3km to go mark until the flamme rouge, the roads are slightly ascending while the final kilometre near the lake Lago de Sanabria is a little bit downhill. The final kilometres follow a mostly straight road until a sharp right-hand turn 600m from the finish and a roundabout just 300m from the line.

The weather

Galicia has offered an exciting start to this year's Vuelta but the riders will now leave the northwestern region. The riders have left the coast for tomorrow's start in Sober and will leave the sea behind them for now. This means that it will be far less windy than it has been during the opening part and there will only be a very light wind from an eastern direction. This means that the riders will have a headwind for most of the day but should enjoy a tailwind for the final 12,5km. There will be a crosswind on the 600m finishing straight.

In general, it will be a perfect day for bike racing as the riders will be accompanied by bright sunshine. The temperatures should stay around the 25-degree mark for the opening part of the stage while it will 20 degrees at the finish which sits at 1020m above sea level.

The favourites

The sprinters don't have an awful lot of opportunities in this year's Vuelta and so have they have to make the most of it whenever they get the chance. That should be the case tomorrow and so the early breakaway shouldn't make it to the finish. Omega Pharma-Quick Step, Orica-GreenEDGE, Argos-Shimano and Garmin-Sharp all have stage wins as their main target and they can't afford themselves to let tomorrow's stage slip away.

One should, however, not be too fooled by the nature of this stage. It contains some serious climbing and there are very few flat stretches along the way. If the break is sufficiently strong, it may be very difficult to get back and it would be a wise decision not to allow it too much leeway.

The first categorized climb is too far from the finish to make a difference but the final one should be far more tricky. The average gradient is only 2,6% but it gets tougher near the top and it may be used to put some of the sprinters under pressure. It's also a perfect launch pad for an attack and it would almost be a surprise not to see Juan Antonio Flecha try a move, the Spaniard having already been on the offensive whenever he has seen just the slightest opportunity. If a strong group goes clear on the climb, it will take a dedicated effort to bring it back.

Finally, it would be a mistake to underestimate the many rolling hills inside the final 20km. In their own rights, they may not be that difficult but the combination of them could be what breaks the sprinters' legs at the end of a hard day. The most likely outcome is some kind of sprint but it will not be a day for the heaviest guys.

With a sharp 90-degree turn just 600m from the line, positioning will be crucial and the importance of a lead-out train cannot be underestimated. This plays the cards into the hands of Michael Matthews who has all the characteristics to win tomorrow's stage. The Australian has probably never been stronger than he is right now. He climbed extremely well in the Tour of Utah and went on to finish close to the GC riders in Monday's surprisingly tough finish before taking a hugely convincing sprint win to finish 3rd in today's uphill finale.

He will have to share sprinting duties with Leigh Howard who is probably the fastest of the two in a flat sprint. With tomorrow's course being rather hard and Matthews showing splendid condition, we expect the team to put all their eggs in the Matthews basket. Generally, he has had a hard time mixing it up in the flat sprints but the difficult nature of the course should wear out his rivals prior to the finish. His main asset is, however, his team. With riders like Howard, Mitchell Docker, Baden Cooke and Simon Gerrans to take care of the lead-out duties, we wouldn't be too surprised to see Orica-GreenEdge in control when the peloton takes the final important turn. With his current condition, Matthews has the capabilities to finish it off.

With Theo Bos being ruled out prior to the start, Tyler Farrar is the big-name sprinter in this year's Vuelta. The American has endured some difficult seasons and lost his position among the top riders in the sprint hierarchy. This year's Vuelta hasn't attracted any of the top-level sprinters and this offers Farrar a unique opportunity to bounce back.

Prior to the race, he had a very good chance of dominating the sprints as he was to be supported by a strong train consisting of an in-form Koldo Fernandez, Michel Kreder and Alex Rasmussen. However, Fernandez crashed out of the race in the team time trial while Kreder suffers from the effects of the same tumble. Tomorrow's stage may even be too hard for Rasmussen and this could leave Farrar with very little support. However, the American appears to be in peak condition these days and made a good impression in the Eneco Tour. In his current condition, tomorrow's course shouldn't be too much of a problem and it may even be to his advantage that some of his rivals feel the effects of a tough day in the saddle.

Gianni Meersman will only benefit from the tough course and he will be eager to make amends for two lost opportunities in a row. He shares sprinting duties with teammate Andrew Fenn who will be the team's preferred sprinter in the flat finishes. Tomorrow's stage may, however, be so hard that the team decides to give Meersman another chance and he will be eager to grab it with both hands. Meersman handles the positioning aspect very well and with riders like Tony Martin, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck and Zdenek Stybar to support him during the hectic run-in, he should be present in the finale. Many of the sprinters are, however, faster than Meersman in a flat sprint like tomorrow's and he doesn't have a team which is capable of taking complete control in the finale. He will have to come from behind. His only real winning chance is that the stage has been so hard that his faster rivals miss their top speed but that may happen in tomorrow's tough stage.

As usual, Argos-Shimano have their main focus on the sprint stages and they have brought no less than 3 sprinters to the race. Nikias Arndt and Ramon Sinkeldam will share sprinting duties in the flatter finishes while Reinhardt Janse Van Rensburg will be the man for the uphill sprints like today's. The team is likely to support Sinkeldam in the really flat stages while Arndt will get his chance on the harder days. Tomorrow's stage will fall into the second category and so the German may be the man.

He appeared to have a tough time during the opening days but showed signs of improvement today when he made it back to the peloton with the Meersman group before supporting Van Rensburg in the finale. His recent stage win in the Arctic Tour of Norway where he also finished 3rd in a tough uphill sprint, is a testament to his condition. In a head-to-head battle, he may not be the fastest sprinter but he should benefit from an excellent lead-out with Van Rensburg and Sinkeldam both very capable support riders. They may miss a little bit of experience at the highest level but if they can time it right, Arndt could take a maiden grand tour win tomorrow.

It would be a mistake to rule out Sinkeldam  While Arndt appeared to struggle in the first stages, Sinkeldam was riding better than expected. That could cause a change in tactics, allowing Sinkeldam to get his chance tomorrow. He got into sprinting during in the 4 Jours de Dunkerque where he was the perennial runner-up behind a dominant Arnaud Demare. He went on to mix it up with a certain Andre Greipel in the Tour of Belgium and the Ronde van Zeeland. He is definitely one of the fastest sprinters in the peloton and has one of the best teams to support him. If his team decides to back him tomorrow, he could get their sprinting campaign off to a flying start.

Edvald Boasson Hagen is clearly still suffering from the effects of his long absence following his recovery from a broken shoulder. However, his progress is evident and he was even seen on the attack on today's extremely steep Mirador de Ezaro climb. He finished 6th on the stage, having opened his sprint way too early and giving his rivals a perfect lead-out. The Norwegian is not the fastest sprinter in the business but he has a fabulous ability to position himself. He often manages to take surprise wins ahead of much faster rivals as he most recently did it when he won a stage of the Dauphiné. The many rolling hills in tomorrow's finale should suit him and that could allow him to move into the category of riders who have taken stage wins in all three grand tours.

Finally, we will point to our joker. Francesco Lasca is a hugely talented Italian sprinter who is riding his debut grand tour. Today he managed to stay in the main peloton when riders like Meersman had been dropped. This proves that he is riding extremely well these days and he is also very fast on the line. He won't have any support in the finales and that is his biggest challenge. If he manages to position himself well for the final sprint, don't be surprised to see Lasca save Caja Rural's Vuelta.

CyclingQuotes' stage winner pick: Michael Matthews

Other winning candidates: Tyler Farrar, Gianni Meersman

Outsiders: Nikias Arndt, Ramon Sinkeldam, Edvald Boasson Hagen

Joker: Francesco Lasca