Russia's Denis Menchov is the early favourite to win his third Tour of Spain in four years after a mountainous route to the 2008 Vuelta a Espana was announced.

Menchov, who claimed the gold jersey in 2005 and won it again this year, and the rest of the peloton will face eight mountain stages, including the legendary L'Angliru climb and a 16 kilometre uphill time trial in the rockiest Vuelta in years.

"We are coming out of a very delicate situation in cycling and we had to do something to get people talking about cycling itself," race director Victor Cordero said of the Alto de L'Angliru.

"Our contribution is to include a legendary climb in the Vuelta. It has its supporters and critics but it always generates debate.

The season's final Grand Tour will begin on August 30 with a seven kilometre team time trial in Granada for the second straight year.

The sprinters and break-away artists will then have three days to show their mettle in a series of relatively flat stages before the Vuelta's first individual time trial of 2008, a pancake flat 40-km jaunt through Ciudad Real.

After a rest day on Friday, September 5, the peloton takes to the mountains for the first time for the race's longest stage - a 224-km trip from Barbasto to Andorra culminating in successive climbs with the category one Alto de la Rabassa and an uphill finish on the HC Alto de Naturlandia.

Stage eight and nine will remain in the Pyrenees, with the eighth stage featuring another summit finish on the infamous Pla de Beret, featured in the 2006 Tour de France.

After successive transition stages in Zaragoza, Burgos, and Suances, the peloton gets a second and final rest day on Friday, September 12.

The last nine days begin with a visit to the legendary Angliru peak in Vega de Riosa - the first such stopover since 2002 - with a gradient reaching upwards of 23 percent on the one of the most gruelling HC ascents in the sport.

The Vuelta then travels to the Fuentes de Invierno Ski Resort for the first time for yet another mountain finish, albeit a relatively tame category one summit.

After a third straight day in the mountains with two categorised climbs on the 198-km journey from Cudillero to Onferrada, stage 16 features only one category one climb before back-to-back sprinter stages.

Two early category one climbs highlight stage 19 before a possibly decisive penultimate day with an uphill 16-km time trial starting in La Granja de S.I. and finishing at the summit of the category one Alto de Navacerrada.

The Tour of Spain concludes on Sunday, September 21 with a 110-km ride starting for the first-time ever in San Sebastian de los Reyes and ending as always in Madrid.

Jeremy Stahl / Eurosport