Vuelta a España 2025 riders to watch
With four-time champion Primož Roglič unlikely to start this year, and Olympic gold medallist – and 2022 overall winner – Remco Evenepoel skipping the event to focus on the World Championships, this year’s Vuelta features several riders in contention for a maiden title.
Jonas Vingegaard came close to pulling off a Vuelta–Tour de France double in 2023, when his Team Visma | Lease a Bike teammate Sepp Kuss triumphed in Madrid ahead of him. This time, the Dane should count on the American domestique’s support in his bid for the top step of the podium. However, there will be no duel with his archrival and reigning world champion Tadej Pogačar, who opted to skip the race after claiming his fourth Tour de France title.
Leading Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates–XRG will be Portugal’s João Almeida, who shone in the first part of the season before crashing out of the Tour with broken ribs. The 27-year-old is expected to be Vingegaard’s biggest challenger, alongside Spain’s young star Juan Ayuso, eager to avenge a disappointing Giro d’Italia and improve on his third and fourth GC finishes at the 2022 and 2023 Vuelta.
Among the contenders is also Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Richard Carapaz, who reached his fifth career Grand Tour podium at this year’s Giro. Italy’s rising talents Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) and Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe) are also looking to continue their progress in a three-week stage race.
Finally, watch out for climbing specialist Giulio Ciccone (Lidl–Trek), fresh from winning the Clásica San Sebastián, and for double MTB Olympic champion Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), riding his second Grand Tour of the season after finishing 16th at the Giro, with a top-10 GC finish as his target.