2023-08-25 13:35:45
The Tour of Spain, which will start on August 26, should be the scene of a threesome, between Remce Evenepoel, Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard. The three monsters should leave only crumbs to the competition, on a course made for climbers.
Published on: 08/25/2023 – 13:35
3 mn
The battle for the red jersey promises to be tough between defending champion Remco Evenepoel and the two stars of the superpowered Jumbo-Visma, Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard in the 78th edition of the Tour of Spain (August 26-September 17), which starts on Saturday. After a two-speed Tour de France, dominated in the head and pedals by the Dane Jonas Vingegaard and the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar, the Vuelta should give way to a three-way match, in the absence of the young Slovenian.
On cloud nine, the Belgian Evenepoel, 23, who became the youngest time trial world champion in Glasgow at the beginning of this month of August, comes alone, or almost, against the two-headed monster of the Jumbo Visma. Without the French Julian Alaphilippe and Rémi Cavagna, his team, Soudal Quick-Step, led by the Czech Jan Hirt, will find it difficult to compete with the giants of the Jumbo, UAE and Ineos-Grenadiers.
Last May, the “little cannibal” stood up to Roglic on the first stages of the Tour of Italy, before being tested positive for Covid-19 and forced to retire. The 33-year-old Slovenian was quick to reclaim his pink leader’s jersey and win the Giro for the first time.
Roglic and Vingegaard, together for the first time in over a year
Full of confidence, Roglic, who skipped the Tour de France, won all the races in which he participated this season (Tirreno-Adriatico, Tour of Catalonia, Giro d’Italia, Tour de Burgos). The Slovenian rider arrives with revenge on the Iberian roads, which he left prematurely last year after a fall on the 16th stage.
His main competitor for a fourth crown on the Vuleta will ultimately be his own teammate, Jonas Vingegaard, who has just won the Tour de France for the second time in a row. Both aligned on a Grand Tour for the first time in over a year, they share the same objective: to make the Jumbo-Visma the first team to win the three major events on the circuit (Tour de France, Giro, Vuelta ) in a single season.
A course for climbers
The 3,153.8 kilometer long race will start in Barcelona on August 26 and end in Madrid on September 17 after a course of 21 stages. The latter will begin with a team time trial, as is always the case on the Vuelta, with 22 teams and 176 riders lined up for this last Grand Tour of the season.
After the warm-up, the road will rise very early, with a first mountain stage from the third day of racing. The mythical Col du Tourmalet, in France, during the 13th stage, and the Alto de l’Angliru, in Asturias, during the 17th stage, constitute major challenges. Stage 20, which has 10 graded climbs, will give the favorites one of the last chances to win or make up time in the general classification, before a sprint finish for stage 21 in Madrid.
On this route which should smile on the climbers, the rest of the peloton will surely find it difficult to keep up with the pace of the three favourites. At the roadside, the Spaniards will be behind Enric Mas, of Movistar, and Juan Ayuso, the young hope of Team UAE Emirates, respectively second and third last year. Objective: to become the first Spanish winner of the Vuelta since Alberto Contador in 2014.
In the absence of Thibaut Pinot, it is in particular the young shooters of the Groupama-FDJ team Romain Grégoire and Lenny Martinez, 20, who will carry the French hopes, with Romain Bardet (Team DSN-Firmenich) or even Pierre Latour ( total energies).
(With AFP)
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