The Vuelta a España, the last of the bike’s three grand tours, begins on August 26. There are 22 teams in the beginning but the attention is on the men in the standings like the reigning champion Remco Evenepoel.
Vuelta 2023, Evenepoel seeks a repeat: odds and favorites
Vuelta a Spagna at the start of 2023: odds, favorites and surprises
The 78th edition of Vuelta a España, better known as Vuelta a España, begins in Barcelona on 26 August and ends in Madrid on 17 September. 22 teams and 176 drivers Initially, even though the spotlight was mostly focused on the men in the lineup. Inevitably the most anticipated will be the reigning champion Belgian Remco Evenepoel.
The champion of Soudal Quick-Step is also back from the world championship, which he won as an absolute away hero, but he will not be the favorite of this tour of Spain. In fact, William Hill* shareholders for bets on the Vuelta Evenepoel is only the third favorite at 4.50. Before that, the bookie prefers Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic, who were awarded at 2.20 and 3.25 respectively.
Both the Danish and the Slovenian are actually from the Jumbo-Visma, a battleship with the possibility of “deciding” on the Vuelta. In fact, a lot will depend on the strategies the team decides to adopt along the way. Vingegaard was stopped from the Tour de France, which was won for the second time in a row by the phenomenon. Roglic won the Giro d’Italia instead and triumphantly returned to the “Vuelta a Burgos”.
What will Jumbo-Visma and Italian luck do?
Jumbo-Visma’s home strategy is key on the eve of Vuelta 2023 for more than one reason. Roglic and Vingegaard won the Giro and the Tour, but the presence of both shows that: Dutch team wants to make history: never actually the same team did it winning 3 grand tours in the same year.
Certainly Vingegaard had not competed in two grand tours for 3 weeks in the same year, so seeing the Dane’s foot in the first tests will be decisive. However, the trio’s rivals, especially the twenty-year-old youth, are not missing. Juan Ayuso, third last year Anyone want to be the first Iberian to win the Vuelta 9 years after Alberto Contador?
It is awarded in Ayuso 8, but here too we need to see what the UAE decides to do, which ranks Joao Almeida (26 odds) as captain. So watch out for the old Geraint Thomas (15), the other Spaniard Enric Mas, who was runner-up in 2022 and awarded at age 17, and Alexander Vlasov (51). Given that the most accredited blue is Italy, Italy’s chances are little or zero. Damiano Caruso is 125 years old.
*Quotes are subject to change
