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A look at the contenders and pretenders for the 2024 Vuelta a España. As ever there’s a mix of riders with stories of rehab, redemption and revenge. There’s even someone who is targetting this race.

Without Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard the Vuelta is the most open and accessible grand tour of the season and possibly beyond. Who is up for it?

Route summary
One for the climbers? The Vuelta feels vertical every year but it really stands out this time with over 60,000m of vertical gain. For comparison the Giro had 44km and the Tour 52km. There are two flat time trials, 12km to start and 25km on the last day.

There are nine “summit” finishes of varying difficulty, ranging from accessible big-ring finishes to ski stations, and the infamous Cuitu Negru. Plus there are two days which end after a descent so half the stages are mountain stages of some kind. This leaves little for the sprinters, three to four sprint stages look likely but they’re hilly and with few sprinters and their teams, the breakaway has a better chance.

There are time bonuses of 10-6-4 seconds at the finish line each day and some stages have intermediate sprints denoted with a (B) for 6-4-2 seconds.

The Contenders

A team packed with leaders causing a drama? That was last year but UAE come with a top-heavy team where the opening time trial can count for plenty as it’ll set an initial hierarchy. João Almeida is the local pick given the Portuguese start but can he become a grand tour winner who can strike out on his own on a mountain stage? He’s just turned 26 and seems to have started as a punchy rider with limits in the high mountains to become a top climber who has lost a bit of that kick but he’ll need to combine both to take stage wins and time bonuses.

Adam Yates seems very reliable these days, both in terms of performance and personality as he can climb with the very best and also seems settled at UAE, he’s not after a contract and leadership on another team.

UAE have riders who could lead other teams. Brandon McNulty is an outsider but probably likely to find too much climbing and too many leaders ahead of him; likewise Pavel Sivakov. Jay Vine though is interesting as a wildcard for the team to play. And there’s Isaac del Toro who starts a grand tour in his first season and while he’s been tipped for the top he’s arguably beaten expectations so far so one to look for. All together they make for a tough team for rival squads to match but keep an eye on the internal competition too as this is a rare chance without Pogačar.

What a difference a year makes. A year ago Visma-Lease A Bike looked on top of the world, 69 wins and winning all three grand tours, including all three podium places in the Vuelta. Yet behind the scenes they were trying to salvage sponsorship and since then replicating results at the highest level has proved impossible, in part thanks to a plenty of “unluck”. Still Sep Kuss is now back to form and health with a win in the Vuelta a Burgos and there are no leadership quarrels. He won’t get the same space to attack this year but can count on leadership from the start with solid support on the team, including Wout van Aert and he’s experienced at leadership now too.

Apprentice Cian Uijtdebroeks will prove a tongue-twister for Spanish media and returns to the Vuelta where he was top-10 last year will look to improve on that after season that’s arguably been more discreet than his winter transfer saga but that’s fine, he’s still just 21. He’s one of several contenders who’d love to take the white jersey as the best young rider along the way. There should be a good contest for this.

Is Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) here to win or just to bank a grand tour in the legs? Of course there’s room in-between for stage wins. He’s a surprise late entry after his Tour de France crash left him with sustained back injuries and rehab. A three time winner, he’s seemed made for the race with his ability to pick off summit finishes and their time bonuses, and thrive in the time trials. But his 35th birthday is approaching and he’d be the second oldest Vuelta winner. Triumph is within reach but far from the certainty, all year he’s not been the winning machine we’ve been used to.

Aleksandr Vlasov has been a loyal helper so far this season but does he get to play his own cards? Dani Martinez was second in the Giro, of course far behind Pogačar but better than the rest and his consistency is valuable but . Florian Lipowitz was revelation in Romandie, can he show more of the same here?

Enric Mas leads Movistar. As ever he’s reliable in the Vuelta, three second placed finishes but how to win? He’ll rely on regularidad and hope to finish on the podium for a result that Movistar would surely sign for today. Previous winner Nairo Quintana starts but even a stage looks elusive, but Giro stage winner Pelayo Sanchez can surprise.

Mattias Skjelmose has made the Vuelta his target for the season which is remarkable. “Rider targets big race” isn’t normally a headline but it does tell us something about the Vuelta which often sees riders taking to the start because of accident or injury. Lively on the climbs, surprisingly quick in the time trials but form unknown, the 23 year old leads a very solid Lidl-Trek team with Tao Geoghegan Hart and Giulio Ciccone as other cards to play.

Thymen Arensman leads Ineos but he’d surely want a course with more time trials. A year ago Carlos Rodriguez (pictured) was on the up and a project to become a Tour de France podium contender; now having finish seventh he’s in the shadows which shows how fickle our impressions can be; here is a chance to be back in the limelight in his home race. As ever we’ll see how the team races, the allure of multiple options but the habit of playing it safe.

Richard Carapaz (EF Education-Easypost) is back to winning ways but is this stage hunting or GC? It’s said he’s more comfortable with the former even if his team might prefer the latter; they certainly hired him as a Tour contender. He’s at his best when the race comes down to a test of stamina so some stages suit more than others and form unknown after the Tour.

There’s a long list of wider contenders who are harder to see winning but can hope for a strong result overall. Mikel Landa (T Rex-Quickstep, the temporary new name for the squad) was back to climbing with the best in the Tour and finds a route to suit, team mate William Junior Lecerf could be interesting for some climbs too. Ben O’Connor and Felix Gall (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale) are talented but we’ll see with O’Connor for the motivation as he’s changing teams while Gall must be keener for a result after injury in the summer hampered his Tour prep, and Valentin Paret-Peintre and Victor Lafay give the team more options for a stage win on the climbs. Bahrain bring some strong riders but how to win as Antonio Tiberi, Jack Haig and Damiano Caruso are all steady riders but unlikely to just ride away on a climb.

Max Poole (DSM Firmenich-Post NL) returns to the Vuelta as a form pick having finished second in Burgos, he’s an elegant rider in search of a result. Is David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) a grand tour contender, well he was eighth here in the autumnal 2020 edition, now he’s on a salvage mission for his season. A similar rider but younger and more carefree is Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Dstny) and while may not be making the headlines but the UAE Tour winner is handy on short climbs and probably faces the dilemma of high GC or stage wins as doing both would be a big result and as ever the racing will inform his decisions. Jayco’s Eddie Dunbar, Filippo Zana and Chris Harper are here for stage wins. Similarly IPT come with George Bennett, Michael Woods and Matthew Riccitello for stages more than GC.

TV: RTVE and EITB for locals and VPN users, Eurosport/Max/HBO/Discovery+ or whatever it is called in your country for subscribers in Europe and beyond. Stages typically finish around 5.20pm CEST each day.

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