This year’s Vuelta a España was characterised by starkly contrasting fortunes between the teams that excelled, and those that floundered.
Fifteen of the 21 stage wins on offer were shared between just five teams, all of whom claimed three each. No single rider dominated the race in the manner that Tadej Pogačar did at the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France earlier this year, but between them these teams hoarded much of the success.
That left the other teams picking up scraps, and in total 12 were left winless. Some excelled in other ways, through riding for GC or other targets, but many will struggle to find things to celebrate at the post-race debrief.
Rouleur takes a look at each team individually, and how happy they will be with how their race went.
Alpecin-Deceuninck 9/10
The sprint specialists once again dominated the bunch finishes, with Kaden Groves coming out on top in his duel with Wout van Aert to claim three stages — and, after the Belgian crashed out in the final week, a defence of his points classification title.
Arkéa–B&B Hotels 2/10
Arkéa–B&B Hotels changed their kit from the usual red to yellow during the Vuelta, but such was their anonymity that you’d be forgiven for not noticing. Cristián Rodríguez rode cautiously to finish 13th overall, and their riders failed to animate many breakaways.
Astana Qazaqstan 2/10
Without star rider Mark Cavendish, Astana were a little rudderless and lacking in purpose. The one notable performer was Harold Tejada, who picked up so many sprint points during his many breakaway errands to at one point find himself as high as second in the points classification.
Bahrain-Victorious 1/10
Any hope of a high GC finish for Bahrain-Victorious faded after Damiano Caruso lost a packet of time in the opening days, Antonio Tiberi quit the race with heatstroke, and Jack Haig faded after a strong start. They were unable to redeem their race in the breakaways.
Cofidis 2/10
Midway into the second week, Cofidis were already down to half of their roster, with star sprinter Bryan Coquard among those to have abandoned having shown promising form with a fourth-place finish on stage five’s bunch sprint. Of those who remained, Guillaume Martin was uncharacteristically quiet for his unremarkable 15th overall finish, but a lively Ion Izagirre led the fightback with three top seven finishes from breakaways.
Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale 9/10
While Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale had hoped…