V UELTA A E SPA N A

Established 1935 Editions 78 Recent winners Sepp Kuss (2023); Remco Evenepoel (2022); Primož Roglič (2021)

TEAM JUMBO-VISMA

didn’t just record an historic trio of wins across the three Grand Tours of 2023, they also swept the podium of the Vuelta a España, with Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard helping to lift American Sepp Kuss to his first general classification win in a three-week race.

Whether Kuss returns to defend his title or not, the contenders of the 2024 race will be similarly flyweight, with a route that seeks to touch the sky. Juxtaposed against two flat individual time trials totalling 34km, which will bookend the race in Lisbon and Madrid, are a huge nine summit finishes. Aside from the two TTs and the stages described as mountainous, medium mountains and hilly, there’s a solitary flat stage (5) into Sevilla, after which the sprinters are surplus to requirements.

This orgy of climbing, however, is the Vuelta’s USP. After a hilly opening in Portugal, the treachery begins in Spain on stage 4 with a summit finish at Pico Villuercas. Difficulty is ramped up in Sierra Nevada on stage 9. The finish into Granada comes after a descent,

2023 Podium

1. Sepp Kuss

2. Jonas Vingegaard

3. Primož Roglič but the three preceding category 1 climbs (including two ascents of Alto de Hazallanas) make for a fearsome stage. A big transfer to the hilly northern region of Galicia precedes the first rest day, with summit finishes on both stages 12 and 13, the latter on the steep climb to Puerto de Ancares, where Alberto Contador got the better of Chris Froome in 2014. It’s got nothing on the insidious Cuitu Negru on stage 15, which concludes at gradients north of 20%. Stage 20 to Picón Blanco ends the mountain suffering with perhaps the toughest stage of the lot, while a competitive final time trial in Madrid has the potential to shake up a tight GC battle.