Twenty teams are preparing for the Vuelta de los Castillos, located in the beautiful mountains of East-Spain. During their preparation, I followed them on Twitter. This is what I found:
  
   @Asymm project:Expecting to be the surprise of #VueltaCastillos with @ArfanHusain. GC? SC? Who knows, but beware of us.
   Ever heard of racing in you own back yard? This team is racing in its own front yard. The Kings stage starts literally in front of manager Holgers house. This will certainly help them winning the hearts of the home crowd, but will this home advantage help them getting the surprise they want?
  
   Kremer: We don't have twitter in Poland
   Unfortunately, this team hasn't got access to Twitter (at least that's what they told me). They may lack some modern technology, but they certainly don't lack confidence. The words of manager Wojciu: 'Vangen will win it no matter what'.Vangen certainly has an amazing team to help him. Will that be enough to get his revenge for last years third place?
  
   @Bywater CT:I hope to earn some money here and there, top 9 GC would be a nice bonus. #GoGodoGo #VueltaCastillos
   The team bring former Greenride captain and former winner of this very tour, Godo Figuereido. They will almost certainly get the points and money they want with him as captain, and some decent support.
  
   Lusitano: Sorry, I'm not a bird, so I don't tweet
   This tour could quite possibly be the last time Lusitano will have a completely Portuguese team. Manager Tiago Grego has announced to hire riders from all nations in the near future. There are romours that he is a bit bored and wants to try something different. Top-climber Alfeu Freitas is their captain and could be a dangerous outsider for the GC.
  
   @YuriSuperTeam: We'll fight for the #VueltaCastillos SC once again! It will be hard, but we hope we can score well! Stage 3 will be vital!
   Yuri has Dutch national Champion and Nr.2 of the world Gert Sijmonds in his team. This is however, not a guarantee for victory in the Sprint Classification, as the SC of the Vuelta has never been won by a pure sprinter before. I wish them good luck, but I think they will need more than good luck to achieve their goals..
  
   @Alexx (Die Tour Phantome):Strongest field ever in #VueltaCastillos. Great race for cycling fans. #two in a row? #Failurenomore
   The defending champions return with a strong squad. Will Falur Sigfinnursson become the first ever rider to win the Vuelta twice? The team will also hope to get the support of the Spanish public with their two native team mates. They have my support too, as I am a great fan of Icelandic cyclists and I will therefore be cheering for Falur in the coming days.
  
   @TCD (Team Crazy Downhillers):#Impellitteri is ready to conquer the mountains of #VueltaCastillos once again. #Bauwens will sit home and relax meanwhile, watching it on TV.
   A shame for this team that there isn't a King of the Mountains classification yet, as they have one of the best climbers of the pack. With his lack of FR and TQ abilities, Impellitteri will not be a contender for the GC, nor the SC, but he is certainly be able of finishing on the Podium in a climbing stage.
  
   @MatrixTeam:#VueltaCastillos
   First time for us in the Spanish Tour. All the team will support a highly motivated Ryle who's aiming for a top 9 in the GC, maybe more with some luck.
   No Top Form for Ryle, which is a shame, because with TF he would

have been a certain contender. Without the Green triangle, he will have to fight hard to get a Top-9 (although the Bermudian might get some help form another triangle) Being one of the top TT-teams of OCM, Matrix will also want to win the TT-stage and with Tarjei Amundsen they might have the guy to do that.
  
   @CCRiaza:At last, Club Ciclista Riaza will be at #VueltaCastillos. The only Spanish team will try his best with Valentin Pinedo. A top 9 in GC will be a great success.
   With the support of the natives, manager Homer will try to surprise with a Top-9. Being the first ever Spanish team to race in the Vuelta, the pressure to perform will be big. They have a good team, but is their captain good enough to succeed in this tour?
  
   @DrapeauNoir666 (real Twitter account, follow it!):Liuni beat the Race Analyzer in the last Vuelta. In this one, WITH top form, he will utterly destroy it!"#VueltaCastillos
   Three Top-9's in a row will be the goal for manager Delion. With Liuni, he has a famous over-performer (?), but will he be able to perform his trick once again? Liuni will have Top Form, but compared to the competition, his support isn't good enough and to be honest, he isn't as good enough either. But with years of Tour experience, Delion has tactics that can surprise everyone. So he could very well do that again this time.
  
   @GradientLevellers:Expectations are relatively high. #Redman is my captain and I think he's well suited to #VueltaCastillos. He'll be in TF and I'm hoping for a top3 in GC with him. It's been ages since I won a tour and with two 2nd places last season, I'm hoping it's my turn.
   Yet again, Tim Johnson has managed to get another amazing tour rider. Farley Redman already has a jersey from Monte Rosa tour, and will be aiming for another one. If he doesn't have bad luck, he will be a certain contender for the GC.
  
   @IlGrillo:My captain, Friss did very well last year as a vice-captain-tm, now his time to shine in #VueltaCastillos, but DP will suck
   One of the many surprises of last season was Poul Friss. He will try to get at least some points in the hilly fifth stage, but will be looking for a surprise again. Can he get that top-9 again, or will this tour end in failure for the Dane?
  
   @NECFTW: #VueltaCastillos is a race were the men are separated from the boys, we expect to be competitive enough to fight for the GC.
   Old uncle Damin Iacob will get a chance to shine again. At his 32nd, manager Noppes is one of the few people that believe in his chances. He will however have some great support and with a very experienced manager like Noppes, you never know.
  
   @peddelen: Back for revenge!!! #VueltaCastillos
   Last year, Michala totally failed (although he won the SC for the second time). This time, manager pete was first to sign-up. A good omen? I think he does not need omens to perform at his best. The urge for revenge will be enough to motivate him. Will he get the podium he wants, or a third Sprint jersey, or nothing? Only time will tell..
  
  
  
  
   @scuppernong:With Enoch as captain in #VueltaCastillos I am hoping for a top 9 in GC as he won't be on top form, with a couple of stage results.
   Climbing-beast Rolf Enoch would indeed have been a serious contender with Top Form, but he can still get the climbing stage results manager Joe wants. The winner of the Youth classification in season 21 is back, and he will not leave Spain without a result.
  

   @QuickStepMinded: In it for some fun with #White #Vueltacastillos
   Apart from Yuri SuperTeam, QSM is the only team with a sprinter as their captain. A certain place on the SC podium, you would say. But that will quite probably be not the case, and we therefore wish manager QSM lots of fun, because he won't get lots of results
  
   IGF
   No tweets, as the Belgians are secretly preparing for winning the YC. Unfortunately, Felix Wenner has missed his Top Form. The strength of his support could make up for this setback, but can someone win a jersey without the TF-doping?
  
   Telek@m
   Being a team with an @ in its name, you would expect them to have an account on Twitter, but they don't. They are also secretly preparing for winning the YC, with Steinbjorn Odinsson. This Icelandic talent (Nicknamed “Son of Odin”) is one of the best climbers in OCM. He has however also missed Top Form. Will that cost him what looked a certain victory in the Youth Classification?
  
   @CCFC:To defend the YC-title from last season, and a top 9 position in the GC. We also want a top 3 in at least one stage. #expectation #VueltaCastillos
   PJ Van de Wal is the final contender for the YC. With his competitors missing out on Top Form, his experience in this Tour and of course his amazing skills, he will be the clear favourite. Can he handle the pressure and win the Green Jersey for the second time in a row?
  
  
   Cider Riders
   Once again, Cider Riders has come to defeat their opponents with a TT'ers team. After their surprising victory in Veijle-Kobenhaven, the team has got its confidence level boosted. Will they be able to surprise again? If not, the TT-stage will get them an almost certain result. But they won't be satisfied with that...
  
   Predictions
   Not my predictions this time. I asked the participating managers to predict the podiums of the GC, SC and YC. 11 managers gave me their predictions, 3 managers had no idea because of TF or other things. 1 manager only predicted the GC. 1 manager predicted his own TM's to win. 4 managers didn't respond. The predictions of the 11 managers (or 12 in the GC) are being made into one prediction this way: Rider predicted first gets four points, rider predicted second get two points, rider predicted third gets one point.
   This is the outcome :
   GC (Top-6)
   1. Falur Sigfinnursson (Die Tour Phantome): 26 points
   2. Anatoly Michala (peddelen): 16 points
   3.Oystein Vangen (Kremer): 15 points
   4. Farley Redman (Gradient Levellers): 10 points
   5. Steinbjorn Odinsson (Telek@m): 7 points
   6. Damin Iacob (NECFTW): 6 points
  
   SC (Top-3)
   1. Gert Sijmonds (Yuri Super Team): 19 points
   Anatoly Michala (peddelen): 19 points
   3. Falur Sigfinnursson (Die Tour Phantome): 13 points
  
   YC (Top-3)
   1. Steinbjorn Odinsson (Telek@m): 38 points
   2. Peter-Jan Van de Wal (CCFC): 24 points
   3.Felix Wenner (IGF): 11 points
  
   A massive thanks to all managers that responded to my mail. Really didn't expect to get so much teams responding in such a short amount of time.
  
  
  
  
   Written by pundit Don Hamstre from don hamstre team to the OCMagazine