Eight North Americans start the 2025 Vuelta a España this weekend, and all are hoping to have a super-sized impact on the season’s third grand tour.
Six Americans and two Canadians will line up in Torino for the 80th Vuelta with a mix of ambitions, fitness, and motivation.
Leading the way for the U.S. is a solid lineup, including Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers), Matthew Riccitello (Israel–Premier Tech), Sean Quinn (EF Education–EasyPost), and Kevin Vermaerke (Picnic-PostNL), with Matteo Jorgenson and Sepp Kuss part of the Visma–Lease a Bike dream team.
Canada sees Pier-André Côté (Israel Premier Tech) and Nickolas Zukowsky (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) at the start.
That’s one more than the number of North American starters at the 2025 Tour de France, which saw five Americans and two Canadians.
Starting in Italy, the route passes through France and Andorra before entering Spain, and ends on September 14 in Madrid.
Can a North American strike glory in the season’s final grand tour? Let’s dive in:
GC miracles?
The Vuelta is where the Americans have shone lately. Chris Horner and Kuss are the last U.S. elite men to win grand tours, both at the Vuelta in 2013 and 2023, respectively.
Is there another North American red jersey lurking in the pack?
Isaac del Toro won’t be racing, with UAE Emirates-XRG sticking to its policy of not allowing riders 25 or under to race more than one grand tour in a season. The Mexican is on a tear lately, and likely could have been in the running for the win.
Instead, UAE is sending double trouble with João Almeida and Juan Ayuso, so no Mexican winner of the Vuelta this year.
Canada’s Derek Gee was considering racing his second grand tour of 2025 after hitting out for fourth at the Giro d’Italia in May, but he is a surprise late non-starter. It’s too bad “GC” Gee is missing the race because he’d be a podium challenger.
The official La Vuelta squad for Visma-LAB is here:
Jonas Vingegaard
Matteo Jorgenson
Sepp Kuss
Victor Campenaerts
Dylan van Baarle
Wilco Kelderman
Ben Tulett
Axel Zingle pic.twitter.com/Wn3ZBlmXEp— #TeamVingegaard (@vingeupdates) August 18, 2025
Kuss won in 2023, but he isn’t expected to throw himself into the GC battle this year. Instead, he’ll slot into a support role behind Jonas Vingegaard and perhaps have a chance to chase a stage win once the Dane buckles down the red jersey.
Jorgenson could be a podium contender if he’s back to his best following a chest cold that derailed his Tour ambitions.
As a two-time defending champion at Paris-Nice, second in the 2024 Dauphiné, and eighth in the 2024 Tour, Jorgenson could be racing into the top 10 and much more if he’s back at his usual level.
Stage hunters
Every North American racing during this Vuelta will be hoping to bring back something.
Several riders are racing their first Vuelta, including Sheffield, Jorgenson, Vermaerke, and Zukowsky. Former Canadian TT champ Côté makes his grand tour debut for IPT.
Zukowsky will be starting for Q36.5 Pro Cycling, hoping he fares better than his grand tour debut at the Giro this spring, when he crashed out and did not start stage 4.
Riccitello is back for a second Vuelta tilt. Last year’s GC push fizzled out with a crash, but he will be hunting for a stage win.
Quinn, sidelined much of this season, will be dreaming of a stage win to cap a comeback.
Vermaerke and Sheffield are both capable of winning stages, and both are on teams hard-wired for aggressive racing.
The last U.S. rider to win a Vuelta stage? No, it’s not Kuss. Brandon McNulty, winner of last year’s opening time trial in Lisbon.
The last Canadian? Also last year, with Michael Woods in stage 13 at the Puerto de Ancares.