Beneath the Belém Tower in Lisbon, where the Tagus River flows into the Atlantic and where the ocean gently follows the waves to the shore amid the revelry of the seagulls, the different teams that will take part in the Vuelta parade. The cyclists huddle in an improvised tent before walking down the corridor to the catwalk, the team managers greet the media with a smile, the fans enjoy the proximity of the protagonists, jokes follow one another among the ex-cyclists who accompany the caravan, a party on two wheels. The music of the lively DJ blares, the applause of the fans who have gathered for the presentation of the riders reverberates – especially the Portuguese Rui Costa (EF), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) and João Almeida (UAE) – and there is no shortage of anecdotes to kick off an edition that does not have a clear favourite, perhaps Primoz Roglic, winner of three laurels (2019, 2020 and 2021). Then, a bunch of candidates raise their hands. It is the opening of the fan after the tyranny of Pogacar, who has not dared to achieve a triplet never seen before, since he already has the Giro and the Tour of the year in his bag; also after the noted absences of Vingegaard and the double Olympic champion, Evenepoel.
Roglic (Bora) is the only one who is in the spotlight because he arrives late to the presentation, distracted, tardy, and it is incomprehensible that he disappears without warning. His team, who have already paraded down the catwalk, open their eyes and shrug their shoulders in response. No one knows, no one understands. But when the gala was about to end, the Slovenian arrives without warning and climbs onto the stage, arms raised, smiling, fueled by the hubbub. There is no answer as to what has happened to him, because he was on the team bus. “I lost my way,” Roglic jokes, far from being in a fortuitous situation. At Bora, however, they are confident that this will be the last time he misses out on the Vuelta, since he is expected to win the glory of the race, although it remains to be seen how his body responds after the two serious crashes he has had this season, a massive fall in Itzulia where he kissed the ditch, and the other in the Tour after colliding with a motorbike and damaging his back and shoulder, with abrasions everywhere.
From August 17 to September 8 there will be a Vuelta where usual second sons They will work for themselves, without ties or orders from the cycling oligarchs, with the responsibility of victory on their shoulders. All or nothing. But the route does not point to respites, as there is only one flat stage, eight mountain stages, five medium mountain stages, as many undulating stages with two summit finishes, as well as two time trials.
After leaving Portugal – where the first three stages are held, the only country to repeat the start outside Spain, after doing so in 1997 for the Expo – the selection is expected in the first week, especially in the ascent of Pico Villuercas (4th stage) and the double climb to Alto de Hazallanas in Granada (9th). The legs will not rest in Galician lands with the Puerto de Ancares (13th); and they will probably break in Asturias with the Cuitu Negru (15th) and the Lakes of Covadonga (16th). Those who remain standing in the fight for the crown will play it out in the penultimate stage, in the Burgos Picón Blanco (20th). Although, who knows, with the fan open as it is, perhaps Madrid will be the final judge, as the Vuelta closes with a 22-kilometre time trial through the streets of the capital, a great spectacle.
Roglic likes it, looking for a fourth victory to surpass the Swiss Tony Rominger and the Spaniard Alberto Contador (also with three wins), and to catch the record of the Bejaran Roberto Heras (four). After Primoz, in any case, there are a handful of riders who are asking for their turn.
Sepp Kuss (Visma) has done it, having already won in 2023 – a victory validated by team orders because his teammates Vingegaard and Roglic himself, then in Visma, completed the podium. But this year he has not ridden fluently, as if the leadership, usually a luxury gregarious, was holding him back. Although he was finally seen unleashed in the last Vuelta a Burgos. “Without Pogacar or Vingegaard, the rest of us, the humans, have a chance. Everything is more open,” reflects the American; “although I would prefer Jonas Vingegaard to be there because with him in the team it takes a lot of pressure off me.”
Mikel Landa (Soudal), fifth in the recent Tour and in the last Vuelta, does so. “Yes, without them the race opens up and, apart from Roglic, there is no clear favourite. The rest of us are very even and I would like to be on the podium. But I don’t know how I am physically after the Tour. I am old, I am a T-Rex“Let’s see if I have the strength,” he joked.
And, of course, so does young Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos), who is taking on two Grand Tours for the first time – he has already ridden the Tour, although he fell ill in the last week and his performance dropped – and is as cautious as he is ambitious: “Why not win the Vuelta? I am going to fight for it, that is why I came here. I know it is very difficult, that there are very strong riders, even if the three who were on the podium in the Tour are not here, but you have to fight and believe that you can do it.”
Richard Carapaz also points out: “The absence of these great riders marks the race. Roglic is one of the contenders and has something special with the Vuelta. But Landa, Carlos Rodríguez, Kuss… It will be a good fight, although my ambition is to win,” reflected the Ecuadorian.
Almeida’s ‘demand’
Enric Mas (Movistar), however, is also in with a ticket, as he started the Tour limping but finished it in the best possible way, rubbing shoulders with the leaders in the mountains. “I finished well in France and I hope to continue like this now, we will see how my body responds. What is clear is that I love to win and I have the will to do so.” Others are getting in line, such as João Almeida (UAE) – third in the Giro two years and five years ago top-6 in the Grand Tours—, who has the difficult task of winning the Vuelta so that the UAE can achieve a full house in the year (Pogacar won the other two Grand Tours) as Visma did in the previous year.
Another who also wants to make a name for himself is Tao Geoghegan Hart, Giro champion in 2020. Although he had a hard time at the team presentation, because the speaker He made a sudden rush. It turns out that he approached the cyclist, asked him about his physical condition and ambitions… And he was quite disappointed because he asked a teammate who was not him. “Tao is there,” he tried to answer. “I want to do my best,” the Briton simply replied, somewhere between irritated and bewildered by the mistake.
The competition kicks off with today’s time trial – 12 kilometres with the finish in Oeiras – a Vuelta with a lot of intrigue and an uncertain outcome.
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