We’re heading towards the finale of the 2023 cycling season and with that comes the last of the three Grand Tours of the year, the Vuelta a España.
The Spanish Grand Tour, running its 78th edition this year, may not have as high a profile of the Tour de France or the Giro d’Italia, but August after August it finds itself welcoming the stars of the GC world to take on what is reliably a mountain-packed three weeks of racing.
This year, the Vuelta kicks off in Barcelona for the first time in six decades, with the Vuelta a España route packing in mountain stages to Andorra, the Col du Tourmalet, and the fearsome Alto de l’Angliru along with a 15km TTT and 26km ITT on the road to Madrid.
Barcelona will welcome 18 WorldTour teams, the two top ProTeams of 2022, and two Spanish wildcards on August 26. Among them are a host of big names, including three-time winner Primož Roglič, Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard, home hope Enric Mas, defending champion Remco Evenepoel, and British star Geraint Thomas.
The five are just some of the stars set to take on the Vuelta among the 176 riders filling out the peloton. Find out all you need to know about them and the 22 teams taking on the race with our ultimate Vuelta a Españ team guide below!
Jumbo-Visma
With Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard and three-time Vuelta winner (and current Giro d’Italia champion) Primož Roglič lining up at the start in Barcelona, it’s not a stretch to say that Dutch squad Jumbo-Visma are the favourites to take home the red jersey this year.
A win would see the team complete an unprecedented Grand Tour triple in 2023 and confirm them – as if we didn’t know already – as the dominant stage racing force of the current era.
Vingegaard, who introduced himself to many cycling fans with his supporting ride for Roglič at the 2020 Vuelta, confirmed his participation before the end of the Tour. He’ll return there for the first time since that ride, with the question of Jumbo-Visma team leadership likely to dominate the build-up to the race.
The pair, regardless of who ends up as the main contender for the red jersey, will rely on a strong support squad in Spain. The peloton’s top climbing domestique Sepp Kuss is on the team along with Wilco Kelderman, Robert Gesink, and Attila Valter. Jumbo-Visma are undoubtedly the team to beat this Vuelta. (DO)
Soudal-QuickStep
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