Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar won’t be racing the Vuelta a España, but he’s not going to be missed.
The start list for the season’s final grand tour is shaping up to be stacked.
Jonas Vingegaard, João Almeida, Richard Carapaz, Mikel Landa, and former race-winner Sepp Kuss are expected to headline a race that’s already close on the post-Tour de France horizon.
Matteo Jorgenson, Mads Pedersen, Tom Pidcock, and Derek Gee should also be on a start list loaded with superstars.
Vingegaard will line out as 5* favorite in three and a half weeks for the Vuelta’s Italian gran salida. The two-time Tour champion is the only member of the so-called Big 4 who’s likely to clip in on August 23.
Too-tired Pogačar is on the beach and basking in his fourth Tour victory.
Defending maillot rojo Primož Roglič already raced two grand tours this year.
And Remco Evenepoel?
There’s a big question mark over the Belgian after his brutal exit from the Tour with broken ribs and deep fatigue.
Evenepoel scrapped his plans to race Clásica San Sebastián this weekend and will likely pour his focus into the Kigali road worlds after what’s been a rough ‘n’ tumble 2025.
He’s going to be in no rush to race another grand tour this year if all the reports he’s joining Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe prove true.
Will super teams rule the race for red?
Expect super teams to control the red jersey narrative at the 2025 Vuelta a España.
Vingegaard and his U.S. Flyers, Kuss and Jorgenson, rolled out of the Tour de France last weekend better than they started it.
Visma-Lease a Bike and archrivals UAE Emirates-XRG will take the strongest squads into a race which is living up to its reputation as the “last chance saloon” of the GC racers.
At Team UAE Emirates, Almeida and Ayuso step out of the injury ward to fill in for Pogačar.
Almeida abandoned the Tour de France last month with cracked ribs. Ayuso exited the Giro d’Italia in May after a freak bee sting to the eye.
They will make for a powerful, but potentially problematic, pairing after they were tipped for podium finishes in their season-opening grand tours.
Have they buried the hatchet after a reportedly fractious 2024 Tour de France?
A big Vuelta GC battle is brewing
The riders who have already been confirmed; had the Vuelta a España on their 2025 schedule; or who have been quoted as saying they intend to ride the Vuelta. Start list is provisional and subject to confirmation.
Sprint Cycling pic.twitter.com/FLepn3XKO6
— Velon CC (@VelonCC) July 30, 2025
‘The Comeback Tour’
UAE Emirates-XRG is the only team to have confirmed its roster as of July 31.
Other key names expected for “The Comeback Tour” include Landa, who broke his back in a shocking crash at the Giro, and Carapaz, who never even made it to the Tour after a late illness.
Enric Mas had been slated to lead home team Movistar’s Vuelta a España hopes alongside super-veteran Nairo Quintana. The Mallorcan nearly-man is now TBD after he left the Tour with phlebitis.
Meanwhile, Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe’s likely leaders Jai Hindley and Giulio Pelizzari will be in a hurry to prove a point in Spain.
Their team bus might be looking a little busy next year if Evenepoel steals one of the front seats alongside Roglič and Florian Lipowitz.
Below them, Gee, Egan Bernal, Antonio Tiberi, and Giulio Ciccone will be pushing for placings in the top 10.
Gee will be joined at Israel-Premier Tech by increasingly impressive Texan climber Matthew Ricitello.
Pidcock vs. Pedersen vs. Philpsen? Yes please
Like always, the Vuelta a España packs a punishing array of puncheur stages and grippy sprint finales.
Pidcock and the relentless Danish dynamo Pedersen will be bashing bars for those.
Alpecin-Deceuninck speedster Jasper Philipsen is racing to recover from the injuries that forced him out of the Tour so he can join them.
La Vuelta rolls out of Torino, Italy, on August 23 and wraps up in Madrid in September 14.
It’s shaping up to be just as wildly entertaining as ever.
Vuelta a España 2025: Headliners expected so far
Visma-Lease a Bike: Vingegaard, Kuss, Jorgenson
UAE Emirates-XRG: Almeida, Ayuso, Vine
Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe: Pelizzari, Hindley
Soudal-Quick-Step: Landa
EF Education-Easypost: Carapaz
Lidl-Trek: Pedersen, Ciccone, Geoghegan Hart
Israel Premier Tech: Gee, Riccitello
Ineos Grenadiers: Bernal, Ganna
Q36.5 Pro Cycling: Pidcock