Aside from Carlos Sastre, five riders are going to start their third Grand Tour in 2010 when starting in stage 1 of the 2010 Vuelta a Espana on Saturday. They're all remarkably from the same two teams: Garmin-Transitions and Lampre-Vini Farnese.

Former golden jersey of the Vuelta a España David Millar turned ill during the Giro d'Italia where he pulled out two days earlier than planned. He also suffered in the Tour de France because of crashes and injuries, but he managed to hang on and will also be at the start in Sevilla.

Two other riders from Garmin-Transitions have also started in both the 2010 Giro and the 2010 Tour: sprint ace Tyler Farrar and his lead out man Julian Dean. The Kiwi is particularly phenomenal because he completed all three Grand Tours last year and is trying to repeat this performance in 2010. Adding the three Grand Tours of 2011, Julian Dean could secure himself a remarkable triple hat-trick.

Lampre has a similar plan with their top sprinter and his lead out man: Alessandro Petacchi and Danilo Hondo. The Italian won the green jersey of the points classification in the Tour de France this year after pulling out of the Giro d'Italia during stage 8 due to sickness.