An absolutely stacked GC lineup will take a trip around Spain
For the sake of brevity this preview will only tackle the first week.
It is time for the third and final Grand Tour of 2023, La Vuelta. This race is mostly overlooked as a primary target by the top riders, usually coming in as a backup option to either salvage a season or add to an already glittering palmares. This characteristic makes it quite unique among the Grand Tours, as the Giro and/or Tour are usually planned as top priorities before the season begins.
In this preview I will discuss the top GC riders and potential stage winners, then the route.
The main GC contenders, in no particular order, are Remco Evenepoel, Primoz Roglic, Jonas Vingegaard, Juan Ayuso, Joao Almeida, Geraint Thomas, and Enric Mas. With the gargantuan nature of this lineup, I would be absolutely shocked if any other rider made the final top five. Some of these guys are just a cut above.
Stage hunters are sprinters like Kaden Groves, Bryan Coquard, and Juan Sebastian Molano, and climbers who could win stages from breakaways like Romain Bardet, Santiago Buitrago, Jay Vine, Einer Rubio, and Damiano Caruso. Then of course the time trial, which Filippo Ganna could win if he shows up in top form.
Stage One – Barcelona – Barcelona (TTT) (14.8km): A pan-flat, technical team trial kicks of the Vuelta in the Catalonian capital. Expect Jumbo-Visma’s insane roster to nuke everybody else here and put Roglic and Vingegaard in the driver’s seat. There is not much else to be said; I hate these as part of Grand Tours because they massively disadvantage riders without a big budget team behind them. Remco could be as strong as he wants in this Vuelta but he will enter the mountains behind the two Jumbo leaders in the GC standings. Ultimately, though, I do not see this TTT as decisive, for reasons which I will explain later in this post.
Stage Two – Mataro – Barcelona (181.4 km): A very Vuelta-esque stage that is not for GC but will not be for the pure sprinters either. I will pick a strong puncheur to make it over the final 0.9km 8.7 percent kick.
Stage Three – Suria – Arinsal (158.5 km): The race goes straight into the Pyrenees and Andorra for a mountaintop finish of 8 kilometers at 8 percent. This will be a GC day and I think Jonas will immediately stamp his authority on the Spanish Grand Tour on this 20-minute climb.
Stage Four – Andorra la Vella – Tarragona (184.6 km): A weird downhill thing with a few lumps towards the end that could go to either a breakaway or the sprinters.
Stage Five – Morella – Borianna (186.2 km): Another downhill misc stage that will probably go to the breakaway. These kinds of days are snoozers in my view.
Stage Six – La Vall d’Uixó – Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre (183.1 km): 4,000 meters of elevation culminating a serious climb of 11 kilometers at nearly 8 percent average gradient should make for a challenging GC day. This climb is about 35 minutes in length which should suit Jonas.
Stage Seven – Utiel – Oliva (200 km): I do not understand why they made this one 200 kilometers with no categorized climbs. It should be a sprint day if the teams decide to control. This one will probably be a bore unless it is windy.
Stage 8 – Denia – Xorret de Cati. Costa Blanca Interior (165 km): A hilly day that finishes with the brutal Xorret de Cati (3.8km/11.5 percent) before a quick descent to the line. This murito should bring the GC contenders out to play; traditionally this has been Roglic territory, but that will come down to the form of the superstars.
Stage 9 – Cartagena – Collado de la Cruz de Caravaca (184.5 km): The finishing climb only averages 5 percent, but the final 1.8k are at 9.5, which should open the door to some GC action in the final 5 minutes. The breakaway has a chance here if the big teams are not interested in the bonus seconds at the finish line.
So that is the course for week one.
My prediction for the final podium is 1). Jonas 2). Remco and 3). Roglic.
I will be back soon with week two and three and a recap of the first week.
Puncheur 
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