Samuel Sanchez hasn't raced since he finished the Criterium du Dauphiné on a high with a win in the penultimate stage in early June. The Euskaltel leader has set his sights on the Vuelta a Espana and will make his return to competitive action in this week's Vuelta a Burgos.

Samuel Sanchez has deviated from his usual schedule this season and decided to focus on the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana, thus skipping the Tour de France for the first time since 2009. Having had a slightly disappointing Giro where he failed to reach his pre-race target of a stage win and a top 10 finish, he is now hoping to make amends in the Vuelta a Espana.

The Euskaltel leader most recently raced his home grand tour in 2009 when he finished second behind Alejandro Valverde but since then he has focused on the Tour de France. However, he has been hugely consisted in the three-week race, having made it into the top 15 in all his 5 appearances at the race.

Sanchez will use the traditional warm-up event Vuelta a Burgos to prepare for the Vuelta and the race will be his first competitive action since the Criterium du Dauphiné in early June. On the back of strong showings in the Tour, he won the event in 2010 and was 4th in 2011 but missed the race last year due to a broken collarbone.

Sanchez is rarely at his best when he prepares for his big targets and so he is not expected to feature at the pointy end of the race. Instead the team will look to an in-form Mikel Landa who won the queen stage to Lagunas De Neila in 2011 and showed blistering condition in the recent Clasica San Sebastian. Gorka Verdugo who finished 11th in last year's Vuelta  a Espana, is also building up his condition for the grand tour and could also be a GC option for the team.

Egoi Martinez and Gorka Verduo will offer their usual reliable support while Pablo Urtasun could target the sprint finishes. The roster is completed by young talents Peio Bilbao and Ricardo Garcia.

The Vuelta a Burgos starts on Wednesday and we will bring you live coverage of all the stages. A thorough race preview will be online tomorrow.

Euskaltel-Euskadi for the Vuelta a Burgos

Samuel Sanchez, Mikel Landa, Gorla Verdugo, Egoi Martinez, Jorge Azanza, Ricardo Garcia, Peio Bilbao and Pablo Urtasun