VUELTA A ESPANA

Spain's three-week cycling fiesta is about to get rolling

-  Chris Marshall Bell

Vuelta organiser RCS looks to be involved in a game of ‘anything you can do, we can do better’ with Tour organiser ASO this year. “Two lumpy stages to start this year’s Tour? Then we’ll hit the mountains on stage three.

“You’re starting in San Sebastián? Well, we’re going to have a stage finish atop the Tourmalet, your most iconic mountain. And as for your finish lines placed at the bottom of descents… Pah! Nine summit finishes for us.”

The race route oneupmanship has produced a tough parcours and attracted one of the strongest GC line-ups in recent memory. Remco Evenepoel is back to defend his title, while the winners of this year’s Tour and Giro are also here. Throw in an Ineos-backed Geraint Thomas and a much fancied Juan Ayuso and you have five genuine contenders for this year’s crown.

This list of Grand Tour grandees sets up a raft of intriguing questions. Can Jumbo-Visma win all three Grand Tours in one year? Can Evenepoel challenge them, and will his team be 100% behind him if he really is on his way out? Is Ayuso good enough to earn joint leadership with Tadej Pogačar at the biggest races in 2023? And can Thomas produce a performance good enough to convince his team that he should, once again, lead them at the Tour next year?