The Vuelta a España kicks off on Saturday, 17th August, with a route which prioritises the mountains. In fact, this year's Vuelta a España route includes just one flat stage for the sprinters, on day five, making it very much a race for the climbers.
With the full start list for the Vuelta a España now released, we can begin to build a picture of how the race may unfold.
Three-time champion Primož Roglič is back to race the Spanish Grand Tour, and is surely the favourite. However, he'll face competition from defending champion Sepp Kuss. Tao Geoghegan Hart, winner of the 2020 Giro d'Italia, will be racing his first Grand Tour for Lidl-Trek, having been forced to miss the Tour de France with Covid.
The sprint battles will be few and far between, with four possible opportunities but only one classic flat day for the fast men. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) is expected to be on the lookout for a win, but he'll have the likes of Caleb Ewan (Jayco- Alula) and Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty's) to dual with.
Here are the riders to watch...
Sepp Kuss
Everybody's favourite fresh- faced young American is back to defend his Vuelta a España title. His season has swung between the solid but unspectacular to the heartbreaking. At the Itzulia Basque Country in April, for example, he was 13th. That race's chief purpose was as a building block on the way to the Tour de France (ironic, considering it was the undoing of three of the Tour's main players in a crash). But Kuss never got to ride the Tour because, having worked all year to peak for it, he contracted Covid at the Critérium du Dauphiné and did not have time to recover for the start of La Grande Boucle.
For those who don't remember, Kuss was not really supposed to win the Vuelta last year. He accompanied newly crowned Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard and quite-newly crowned Giro d'Italia winner Primož Roglič with the intention of playing the faithful but highly accomplished team helper. But in an early plot twist, Kuss found himself second on GC after taking a solo win at the Javalambre summit finish on stage six, distancing his team-mates to the tune of 2.52. Two days later, Kuss took over the lead as young Groupama rider Lenny Martinez began to fade.
It was in the third week that it became obvious that an intra-team rivalry was developing, with Roglič in particular riding against Kuss in a bid to take back the red jersey. Following a team order to not attack Kuss, he held on to red for a highly popular overall win in Madrid, but said afterwards that, "never again in my life" did he want to be a Grand Tour leader. This year Kuss does return as leader, sans Vingegaard and Roglič. With no Evenepoel or Pogačar, a Grand Tour double is not impossible.
Mikel Landa
Perhaps surprisingly, given this is his home race, Landa has tended to fare better in the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France. But with so many of the usual protagonists missing this year, this could be the best opportunity he'll ever get to build on his fifth-place personal best from last year. The Spaniard has enjoyed some great form this season, with a fifth place Tour de France finish that registers as one of his best, particularly as he was riding in the service of team-mate and eventual third-place finisher Remco Evenepoel. Backing that up at a second Grand Tour that starts just three weeks after the last one finished is going to be a tough call, though. We (and possibly he) will only know how well he has recovered when the Vuelta begins.
Richard Carapaz
The Ecuadorian rider has just finished one of the best Tours de France of his career, with a first-ever stage win (for himself and Ecuador), and a win in the mountains competition. If he can hold on to a semblance of that form for the Vuelta, he ought to be one of the favourites for the overall, but that is a tough ask. He is the former Olympic road race champion, having soloed to victory ahead of Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogačar in Japan. But he didn't get to defend that title after the Ecuadorian national federation shunned him in favour of Jhonatan Narvaéz for both the road and time trial events. The Paris- based course was not the perfect terrain for Carapaz but all the same, his vexation at missing the world's biggest sporting event may drive him to ride even harder in Spain.
Carlos Rodriguez
Many eyes were on the young Spaniard at July's Tour de France. There was a combination of hope, expectation and pressure coming from the team, the media and fans, as he set about trying to improve on the previous year's fifth place. His eventual seventh was a creditable ride, but with no stage wins in the bag, it did not stop the team from coming under a fair bit of criticism, with media and fans wondering what had happened to this once unbeatable force.
Only a month has passed since the end of the French race, but if he is sufficiently recovered, climber Rodgríguez is likely to form the bladed edge of Ineos Grenadiers's Vuelta GC assault.
In a relatively soft sprinting field for a Grand Tour, the stage is set for Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) to come in and take some of his biggest results in what hasn't been the greatest of years for the Belgian. A major crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen in March took him out of action for two months. After holding back on his own Tour de France ambitions for the Olympics, he declared himself "proud" of his bronze time trial medal, but a Vuelta stage win or two certainly wouldn't go amiss.
His chief rivals in the bunch finishes in Spain are likely to be Australia's Caleb Ewan (Jayco- Alula), who will be looking to add to a relatively small victory tally of four this year – one of those being a confidence-boosting win at the recent Vuelta a Burgos.
Also vying for bunch sprint honours is likely to be Intermarché-Wanty's Gerben Thijssen, riding the wave of glory set off by team-mate Biniam Girmay in the Tour de France. Also riding is young Kiwi Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) – among his various high placings in smaller races this year was a stage win and a second place, plus second in both GC and points classifications at the recent Tour de Wallonie.
With only around four real sprinting opportunities in this year's very mountainous Vuelta, it's no wonder the field isn't replete with top-line sprinters, but it will be an open race that could prove interesting to watch.
Dani Martinez
In case he had been in any doubt, second place behind Tadej Pogačar at the Giro d'Italia earlier this year surely showed Dani Martínez that he is capable of winning a Grand Tour. He has not had a great deal of success in his previous Vuelta participations, the most recent of which was four years ago. That time around, he suffered a heavy crash on the first stage and pulled out two days later. The 28-year-old had planned to ride the Olympic road events in the build-up to this year's Spanish race, but last-minute visa issues resulted in a no-show. He will no doubt aim to channel his disappointment into a strong ride at the Vuelta. He could have his best ride in Spain to date, with a podium and even the win not out of reach.
Enric Mas
You have to feel for Spanish climber Enric Mas. He has clearly always had big ambitions in his home Grand Tour. After winning a stage and finishing second in 2018 – in what was only his second year in the WorldTour – he must have felt that there were multiple stage and GC victories written in his stars. Sadly, not yet. While he comes close every time, that remains his only stage win. And having finished second a total of three times, he could 'only' manage sixth last year.
But Mas was on lively form at July's Tour de France, coming into his own in the final week with third and fifth-placed stage finishes. Recovering for the Vuelta is a big ask, but if Mas has managed it, a win and a GC podium could be in reach.
Brits in the field
There is a healthy smattering of Brits spread throughout the peloton of this year's Vuelta a España, ranging from Grand Tour old hands like Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates), to debutant Josh Tarling, who rides his first three-week race at just 20 years old.
Tarling came away from the Paris Olympics wondering what might have been, after suffering a puncture in the time trial and finishing fourth. At the Vuelta he has a golden opportunity to exorcise that heartbreak on the very first stage – a flat 12km time trial. It may be a little on the short side for Tarling, but with no Remco Evenepoel or Filippo Ganna, it's hard to see who could beat him. A win on stage one would also see him pull on the leader's jersey for good measure. Not exactly an Olympic medal, but a passable consolation prize for the young Brit.
Like many in the Vuelta peloton, Adam Yates comes off the back of a hard Tour de France. He spent the race supporting team-mate Tadej Pogačar in the mountains, but could have his own GC aims alongside Joāo Almeida in this race.
Other Britons include Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease a Bike) in what is his first Vuelta. It's his first year at the team and his is a hard job, standing out in what is such illustrious company. Look for him in the mountains supporting Sepp Kuss.
Max Poole (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) returns to ride his second Vuelta in what is his second WorldTour season. He has only just returned to racing following a four-month absence after breaking his elbow at Tirreno-Adriatico in March.
The best of the rest
While this year's Vuelta field may be missing the very best in the world (even if Primož Roglič turns up he is unlikely to be on his best form due to crash injuries sustained at the Tour de France), what it doesn't lack is strength in depth. Competition for top-10 placings and stage wins will be fierce, with a phalanx of riders who know how to get results at the highest level.
Young Italian rider Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) for example, has had his best season yet. The 23-year-old won the youth classifications at the Giro d'Italia and the Tour of the Alps and was fifth overall in the latter. He could challenge for the Vuelta podium. Veteran Spaniard Jésus Herrada (Cofidis) always does well at the Vuelta, with stage wins last year and the year before. He left the Tour de France with an illness after stage 12, but will be keen to keep up his tally in the Spanish Tour. Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny) was having a superb season until contracting Covid at the Tour de France and quitting on stage 15. With top-10s at Liège- Bastogne-Liège, Flèche Wallonne and Milan-San Remo, expect the Belgian to challenge for a stage.
The 21-year-old French rider Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) wore one of the first leader's jerseys of last year's Vuelta. This year he was an impressive eighth at Strade Bianche and won the youth classification at the Volta Catalunya. He will have a good crack at a stage.
