With ten days to go until the start of the 77th Vuelta a España in Utrecht, the Netherlands, no team has released its final lineup for the last Grand Tour of the season. Whether Primoz Roglič will defend his three straight titles is still unknown, but it seems that the injuries he suffered in the Tour de France (again) are likely to keep him out. No Roglič, no Vingegaard, no Bernal, no Pogačar. So who could take the red jersey?
You can watch the 2022 Vuelta a España at FloBikes.
According to sports betting website realsport101, the odds-on favourite to win is Remco Evenepoel. On August 8 his odd were 7/2, better odds than Giro d’Italia champion Jai Hindley, Giro and 2020 Vuelta runner-up Richard Carapaz, 2018 champion Simon Yates and ex-teammate João Almeida. Could the Belgian phenom win the Vuelta in only his second Grand Tour?
The 22 year old just came off of winning his second Clasica San Sebastian, a one-day WorldTour race, soloing 44 km and finishing two minutes clear of the runner up. Back in the spring he claimed his first Monument, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, another solo exploit in which he set the race record for fastest average speed, 41.3 mph.
The Belgian’s 2022 stage race palmares shows GC victories in two non-WorldTour events, fourth in the Itzulia Basque Country his best WT result. Remco has 33 wins since he joined Quick Step in 2019.
But is he ready to challenge for a Grand Tour crown? In his only Grand Tour, last year’s Giro, he did not start Stage 18 after crashing the day before. He was sharp in the early stages, finishing alongside eventual winner Bernal atop Stage 6 summit finish Ascoli Piceno and only 10 seconds in arrears of the Colombian on Stage 9 summit finish Campo Felice, his performances setting him in second place for five days until Stage 11 when he began to slip. Evenepoel went from 7th to 8th to 19th to 27th on the day he crashed.
The Vuelta’s two chronos—the opening team time trial in Utrecht and the 31-km individual race against the clock—are in Evenepoel’s favour. Eight of his 33 triumphs have been in time trials and Quick Step is a powerful team time trial outfit.
Evenepoel’s main obstacle is the fact that there are eight summit finishes in the 77th edition and plenty of climbing in general. He’s the heaviest of all the major contenders. In this year’s…
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