The 2025 Vuelta a España arrives with the weight of expectation squarely on Jonas Vingegaard’s shoulders. After back-to-back Tour de France defeats to Tadej Pogačar, the Dane faces what many are calling his “last chance saloon” — the opportunity to reclaim Grand Tour supremacy. With 11 mountain-top finishes, a typically Vuelta-esque punishing course design, and rivals ranging from UAE’s youthful duo Juan Ayuso and João Almeida to a Ineos’ desperate Egan Bernal and the close-but-not-quite there yet Ben O’Connor, the stage is set for three weeks of relentless racing. The Vuelta has always been the race of redemption, and in 2025, redemption is exactly what Vingegaard must chase. Here are the riders to watch.
Whereas at the Tour there were two Yellow Jersey contenders to follow, Tadej and himself, two teams to divide up the workload, twice the tactical choices, now all eyes will be on Vingegaard. Every critical General Classification moment, every long hard chase, will be considered the responsibility of his, incredibly strong it must be said, Team Visma-Lease a Bike. They’re the ones who will have the entire weight of the race on their shoulders.
Juan Ayuso has something to prove after his Giro d’Italia DNF.
UAE is bringing two leaders to the Vuelta, unfortunately, they seem to be frenemies after an incident on the Col du Galibier during last year’s Tour. Rising star Juan Ayuso is only 22 – the team breaking their ‘one Grand Tour a season for young riders’ rule in this case – and Joao Almedia is on the rebound from his severe crash on stage 9 of the Tour, neither one taking the start burdened with heavy expectations. They don’t need to win the Vuelta, don’t have to share the responsibility of the race with Visma, but of course will look for every opportunity to seize advantage. UAE will begin the race in an excellent position, given that their prize ponies are both pedaling.
Almeida will want to avenge his TDF’25 abandon.
EF Education’s star Richard Carapaz, originally on the start list, interestingly and disappointingly now off, the team counting on a squad of young riders guided by the veteran Estaban Chavez. A sign of the difficulties encountered by the smaller budget squads, often unable to mount consistently strong teams throughout the season.
Mad Mads Pederson will continue his year-long rampage at the Vuelta in search of the second Points Jersey of the season after his domination of the competition at the Giro d’Italia. Should he succeed, his Lidl-Trek team will have won the Points Jerseys in all three 2025 Grand Tours following that of Jonathon Milan at the Tour. Pedersen will also race in service to the GC ambitions his Lidl-Trek teammate Giulio Ciccone, the Italian having crashed out of the Giro on the 14th stage while sitting in a good position. Problem is that the Italian, now 30-years old, has never yet finished in the top 10 of a Grand Tour.
Will Ciccone’s win in San Sebastien be enough to crack the podium at the Vuelta?
The generous Dane, who performed so brilliantly at the Giro, both for Ciccone and of course his own Points Jersey objectives, should know by the Stage 6 the mountaintop finish in Andorra whether Ciccone is in the hunt for a podium or if the former World Road Champion can focus entirely on his own objectives. It’s a tough race for sprinters, there are three, maybe four stages for them, but the evermore powerful Pederson, fast but not a pure sprinter for certain, has three or four additional opportunities on ‘lumpy’ stages that should suit his immense talents. I can only wonder, after all the efforts made this season, how monstrously strong he will be for the 2026 Classics.
The wins for Spanish home team Movistar have been rare since the retirement of Alejandro Valverde.
The host nation will have little to cheer about this year. Movistar has no Enric Mas, no Nario Quintana, and Mikel Landa, signed to support the Grand Tour ambitions of Remco Evenepol, ‘The best laid plans’, is coming off a three-month convalescence after having crashed out on Stage One of the Giro. The halcyon days of Miguel Indurain and Alejandro Valverde are rapidly receding into the past.
Ben O’Connor heads Australian ambitions, hoping to improve on his second place in Spain last year, and coming of a somewhat, given his podium ambitions, disappointing Tour where he nevertheless finished 11th overall, going home with a stage win in the pocket. After finishing fourth at the Tour in 2022, and fourth then second last year at the Giro and Vuelta respectively, the Team Jayco AlUla racer is due for a grand performance.
How long will Egan Bernal be considered ‘on the comeback’ after his horrific training crash – on a time trial bike as with Chris Froome it should be noted, perhaps repeatedly – three years ago? The Colombian raced an excellent Giro, finishing seventh overall, and comes into this Vuelta supported, as of this writing, by Fillipo Ganna and that pro of all pros, Michal Kwiatkowski. The INEOS Grenadiers, with their massive budget, are sorely in need of at least a podium performance from him after a series of disappointing seasons. By bringing Ganna and Kwia to the party they are showing their belief in and ambition for the former Giro and Tour winner.
Jai Hindley eventually beat Richard Carapaz to win the 2022 Giro d’Italia – but the wins have been elusive since then.
Will Jai Hindley, winner of the 2022 Giro, keep his leadership status at the head of Red Bull-Bora hansgrohe or will rising talent and Italian bright spot, 21-year-old Giulio Pellizzari, sixth in this year’s Giro, his first-ever Grand Tour, grab his chance? Ambitions may flare at Red Bull in the absence of Primoz Roglič. One can only hope, for the great entertainment value these intra-squad squabbles bring to the show.
Other racers to watch include Q35.5’s Tom Pidcock, who rode the Giro as a preparation for a full-on General Classification assault at this Vuelta; an on-form Antonio Tiberi, coming back from a couple of seasons of set-backs after his Young Rider Jersey at the 2022 Giro d’Italia; Austrian Felix Gall, a fine 5th overall at the Tour; and 23 year old American Matthew Riccitello (Isreal-Premier Tech) who won the Sibiu Tour but has yet to find his Grand Tour stamina.
Race organizers A.S.O. are following the same politic in their race designs as at the Tour: there are 11, count’em, 11 mountain top finishes, one 27-kilometer time trial (at least it’s not up a mountain) and one, strangely short, 24-kilometer team time trial. A balanced race it is not, climbers are all the rage and the profession of ‘rouleurs’ and sprinters seemingly under threat by this current view of race design.
Of course, the Vuelta will be exciting and entertaining with all sorts of racers emerging from the shadows with unexpected form, racing their hearts out, searching for glory. But my overall vision of this race is one of Vingegaard as the bull, charging across the north of Spain with everyone else as picadors, stabbing him with their lances at every opportunity. Let’s just hope he keep his ears.
• Keep it dialed to PEZ for our daily coverage, and read the PEZ Vuelta ’25 Stage by Stage Route Guide here.
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