A few days before the start of La Vuelta in Barcelona, the last Grand Tour of the season, the different peloton formations reveal their team compositions. The plateau promises to be extremely high. In addition to the usual outsiders, the two best teams in the world, Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates, have brought out the heavy artillery by lining up two leaders respectively likely to win the overall.
After the victory of Primoz Roglic on the Giro and that of Jonas Vingegaard on the Tour de France, the yellow armada will start La Vuelta with the hope of achieving a legendary and unprecedented performance on September 17 (date of arrival) : win the 3 Grand Tours in the same season.
In an attempt to pull off this capital feat, team boss Richard Plugge decided to field his best cards. At the start in Barcelona, the two leaders, Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic, will be present. The Slovenian has already won this Tour of Spain three times (2019, 2020 and 2021). The Dane, who voluntarily missed the world championships, will return to the Spanish roads, three years after his first participation where he was revealed at altitude.
To try to achieve this historic triple, the two climbers will be accompanied by an XXL team. Who else but the best mountain team member in the peloton, Sepp Kuss, to support the leaders? The American could also become the first rider to win all three Grand Tours in the same season as a teammate. In addition to Kuss, strong climbers Wilco Kelderman and Attila Valter are selected. Finally the versatile Dylan van Baarle, Jan Tratnik complete this selection with one of the legends of the Dutch team, Robert Gesink.
A few days after the announcement of the composition of the Jumbo-Visma team on La Vuelta, its great rival UAE Team Emirates has in turn revealed the eight riders who will take part in the Tour of Spain. This meeting acts as a real revenge of the last Tour de France with the confrontation of the two mutants Vingegaard and Pogacar outrageously dominating the rest of the competition.
As on the Grande Boucle, the Emirati team is advancing with two trump cards and the ambition to climb to the top step of the podium. 3rd in the Tour of Italy last May and 5th in the Tour of Spain last year, the Portuguese Joao Almeida hopes to prove on this Vuelta that he is indeed a credible alternative to Tadej Pogacar. At his side in the costume of co-leader, the revelation of the previous edition and probably one of the best nuggets on the circuit, Juan Ayuso. Last year, he finished just off the podium for his very first Grand Tour.
To hope to compete with its nemesis, the UAE Team Emirates formation has a very solid team in the mountains, with the presence of Jay Vine, double stage winner last year on La Vuelta and well on his feet on the Tour de Burgos. Also Marc Soler and especially Finn Fisher Black, who will start his first Grand Tour. To complete this bodyguard, Juan Sebastian Molano, also in form after raising his arms in Burgos. Finally, the brothers Rui and Ivo Oliveira will be invaluable teammates for riding and passing relays when the road is lower.
The other big favourite, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), risks feeling alone in the highest percentages alongside the heavy artillery. His manager Patrick Lefevere opted for a more balanced team than that of the Jumbo, UAE or even Ineos, which also bet on a doublet of leader with Geraint Thomas and Thymen Arensman.