The favorites for La Vuelta España 2024: from Kuss and Roglic to Landa and Almeida

The Vuelta a España 2024 starts next August 17 in Lisbon. With 21 stages that will culminate on September 8 in Madrid, the competition promises to be entertaining and competitive, with several riders fighting for the coveted red jersey that will crown them as champions of the Spanish tour.

Pogacar, Vingegaard, and Evenepoel will not be at La Vuelta

With the teams already having confirmed their participation, La Vuelta will feature a great participation of renowned cyclists in the international peloton. However, in this edition, none of the three riders who stood on the podium in Paris will participate. Neither Tadej Pogacar nor Vingegaard nor the double Olympic winner and winner of the general classification in 2022, Remco Evenepoel, will be at the start that will take place in Portugal.

The Vuelta a España 2024 presents itself with a lineup of elite cyclists, where names like Primoz Roglic, Sepp Kuss, and Richard Carapaz stand out as favorites to win the red jersey. Roglic, with three Vuelta titles under his belt, is seeking his fourth victory, establishing himself as one of the great dominators of the Spanish tour, while Kuss will defend his crown. Additionally, cyclists like Joao Almeida, Enric Mas, and Mikel Landa also emerge as serious contenders.

The Slovenian cyclist arrives after recovering from a fall in the Tour de France and is looking for his fourth victory in the Spanish tour, making history by matching the four triumphs of Roberto Heras. To achieve this, Roglic will rely on a powerful Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe team that will surely help support his candidacy.

On the other hand, Kuss has specifically prepared for the Spanish tour, avoiding both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France after testing positive for Covid-19, so he arrives with fresh legs. The American recently won the Vuelta a Burgos. Without the presence of Jonas Vingegaard in his team, Kuss is shaping up as the natural leader of Visma, with high expectations of repeating his success from last year.

Additionally, Joao Almeida and Adam Yates, both from UAE Team Emirates, are also two names to keep a close eye on. Almeida, fourth in the last Tour de France, leads his team in search of a triple after Pogacar's victories in the Giro and the Tour. Yates, who finished sixth in the Tour, has the opportunity to fight for the general classification with more freedom. In any case, the Emirates team wants to repeat what their main rival did last year and achieve the triple crown of grand tours to return the favor.

Spanish options

The veteran Mikel Landa, from the Soudal team, also arrives with high expectations. At 35 years old, Landa has shown one of his best versions in recent seasons and presents himself as the team leader after helping Remco Evenepoel. This could be his great opportunity to conquer his first grand tour, taking advantage of both his experience and his excellent form after finishing fifth in the last Tour de France.

Enric Mas, from the Spanish team Movistar, and Carlos Rodríguez, from Ineos Grenadiers, complete the Spanish options. Mas, after a discreet performance in the Tour, hopes to improve his performance in La Vuelta, a race in which he has always shown his best level. The Granada cyclist from INEOS, on the other hand, seeks redemption from the Tour de France, supported by a strong team that will allow him to fight for top positions.

Carapaz, on standby

Meanwhile, Richard Carapaz, from EF Education-EasyPost, seeks revenge after narrowly missing out on victory in 2020. The Ecuadorian cyclist, who shone in the last Tour de France with a stage win and the yellow jersey for a stage, arrives at La Vuelta with the firm intention of fighting for his first victory and adding it to the Giro he already has in his palmares. However, after not being able to contest the general classification of the French tour, it remains to be seen how he has arrived at La Vuelta.

Finally, Bahrain-Victorious cyclist Antonio Tiberi could be the dark horse and the revelation of this Vuelta. The Italian cyclist has had a good first part of the season after his participation in the Giro, and now his team has included him to be their leader in the general classification, at the expense of Pello Bilbao who did not make the team's top 8.