NARBONNE, France (Velo) — Sepp Kuss and Matteo Jorgenson will race the Vuelta a España as Visma-Lease a Bike reassembles its “dream team” in what could be a rematch between Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar just weeks after the Tour de France ends.
Visma’s two-time Tour champion is on a wait-and-see posture to see how he comes out of the Tour before fully committing to the Vuelta, but Visma sources said the Spanish grand tour remains on Vingegaard’s calendar.
That could set up a thrilling rematch between Vingegaard and Pogačar — who is also weighing a Vuelta tilt as well — just weeks after the Tour ends July 27 in Paris.
Speaking to Velo on the Tour’s rest day, Jorgenson confirmed he will start the Vuelta for the first time in his career.
“The plan is the Vuelta,” Jorgenson told Velo. “I am really excited for that. It will help me make a step forward and simplify the year with less travel and smaller races at the end of the year.
“I’ve never been successful in getting back to shape after the Tour, so it will I hope it will help me to maintain the Tour shape into the Vuelta and racing until the end of the season.”
Vingegaard spoke to journalists Monday but was not asked directly about the Vuelta.
The Dane said in January that he would return to the Vuelta — he finished second to Kuss in 2023 and 40th in his grand tour debut there in 2020 — but the team is holding off the final decision depending on how he comes out of the Tour.
Pogačar carries a strong lead into the final week of the Tour, but Vingegaard said Monday he vows to go down swinging,
Kuss: ‘I think Jonas will go as well’
Kuss, the winner in 2023, also confirmed to Velo that he returns to the Vuelta, and hinted that Vingegaard will be there as the GC leader.
“I think Jonas will go as well, so I’ll try and help him the best as possible,” Kuss told Velo’s Andy McGrath. “It’s a different race dynamic than the Tour, there are different opportunities, you can play different cards. It’s a race I feel more for than the Tour, or something, for example.”
Kuss is no stranger to the late-season grand tour, and has raced the Spanish grand tour seven times, winning two stages across his career and securing the GC in America’s first grand tour victory in a decade in 2023.
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a bike) croit toujours en ses chances de remporter le Tour de France 2025 malgré un retard de plus de quatre minutes sur Tadej Pogacar, leader sans partage à six étapes de la fin.https://t.co/GztaUzObiF pic.twitter.com/Jwcc0NXCZf
— RMC Sport (@RMCsport) July 21, 2025
“It’s a combination I’ve done quite a bit. Usually I feel quite a bit better in the Vuelta than in the Tour,” Kuss said. “ It always helps me to have a grand tour in the legs, just to have that kind of race fitness. And the Vuelta route, it’s a lot of uphill finishes, but it’s not super mountainous.
“It’s definitely a very typical Vuelta, very explosive, waiting to the last climb kind of race, but it’s still super hard.”
Pogačar-Vingegaard rematch?
If Pogačar and Vingegaard both commit, the Vuelta would reignite cycling’s top rivalry just weeks after the Tour ends.
Vingegaard and Pogačar might race against each only a few times a year, so a fresh clash at the Vuelta would elevate the Spanish grand tour to new heights.
Pogačar has yet to officially confirm if he will start, but when asked about it during the first week of the Tour, he said racing the Vuelta would mean “another month away from home,” perhaps suggesting the Slovenian has cooled on the idea.
UAE Emirates-XRG manager Mauro Gianetti told Velo at the start of the Tour that the Vuelta is “normally on his calendar,” but like Visma, the team is waiting to make the final call until after the Tour.
The Vuelta starts August 23 in Italy, about three weeks after the Tour concludes. That’s typically enough for most Tour riders to recover for a run at the Spanish grand tour.
Vingegaard, who will not race the worlds in Rwanda, will see strong support if he goes to Spain. With Kuss and Jorgenson confirmed, other starters could include Dylan Van Baarle, Alex Zingle, and Ben Tullett.
If both Tour titans line up for the Vuelta, it would be the sixth time Pogačar and Vingegaard will go head-to-head in a grand tour.
So far, they’ve faced off in grand tours on five occasions, all at the Tour, with two wins apiece since their personal grand tour rivalry began when Vingegaard debuted in the 2021 Tour.