Cycling

The Vuelta de España kicks off from Turin. Without Pogacar the favourite is Vingegaard, in pole also Ciccone

The Vuelta starts in Italy with big names and expectations. Favourites, surprises and challenges ahead for the Spanish race

23 August 2025

La Vuelta parte da Torino, Aru "Il Piemonte investe nel ciclismo"

5' min read

Perhaps, but this is a somewhat malicious reading, it is a kind of compensation. Since we no longer win the Grand Tours, we console ourselves by hosting the starts of the most important foreign races. Last year Italy hosted the Grand Depart of the Tour de France, this year the Salida Official of the Vuelta di Spagna, the last big tour of the season that will start this Saturday from the Palace of Venaria to arrive in Madrid on 14 September.

It is the first time ever, in a history of 80 years, that the Spanish race will start from our country, in particular from Piedmont, the tried and tested host of the great sporting events that will host the first four stages of the event before moving to Hispanic soil.

The Vuelta, once a child of the lesser god of cycling, is no longer a fallback race. Of course, the Giro d'Italia and especially the Tour have another history, another depth, another media impact. However, even the Vuelta now has its own appeal, starting with the participants who, despite the absence-presence of Tadej Pogacar (about whom we will speak separately), are almost all front-runners.

For a start, the big favourite is Pogacar's eternal opponent, Jonas Vingegaard, who has never managed to seriously challenge the Slovenian at the Tour this year. The Dane, in search of redemption, is aiming for his first success at the Vuelta after finishing second in 2023.

Jonas knows that all the spotlights are on him. He has already won two Tours, but he needs to make some kind of cut about himself. He is now 28 years old, an age at which some reckoning begins to be done, especially if you have had to deal with a bulky ace like Pogacar.

At the last Tour Vingegaard seemed to have reached his limit. As if he had already given his best. Is that really the case? Is it possible to stay at this level for so long without side consequences? And the big theme that, in an allusive and rather irritated manner, opened the Tour winner shortly before the arrival in Paris.

"I am at the point where I wonder why I am still here," Pogacar said. "I can't wait for the Tour to end so I can enjoy myself again." Somewhat sibylline words, probably dictated by the enormous pressure, which have triggered many whispers and cries about his possible early retirement from cycling.

Clearly the theme is a tasty one, of 'competitive burnout', and it can be extended to other protagonists of the whole of sport, forced into an indigestion of competitions, in the name of profit and of a engulfing mechanism that does not allow for breaks. We saw it in tennis with Sinner, forced to retire due to a virus in the Cincinnati final where the heat was worse than on the Tour. And in football at the Club World Cup where, in July, teams now at the end of their rope from an expensive season had to tour the US under the alternating threat of scorching temperatures and thunderstorms.

The mantra is: win and never stop. On pain of downgrading. Even if you compete in extreme conditions. Even if your physique or your head send out warning signals.

That's why Pogacar's mutterings caused quite a stir. Because he, the magnificent Cannibal, the designated heir of Eddy Merckx, is the emblem of invincibility. With his magnificent and arrogant way of racing. Always on the ball, never satiated, always wanting to finish first even when the wise men of the caravan advise him not to be greedy, to leave something to others. Ahead, always ahead, sprinting 60 kilometres ahead, one attack after another.

"This is how I conceive cycling," said Pogacar. Yet even in this extraordinary champion with the head of a teenager, something has jammed. Whether it is just a grain of sand we will see at the World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda (21-28 September), where Tadej will try to defend his world champion title. The circuit, with its rollercoaster climbs and descents, is ideal for him who will probably be able to concentrate only on this event, as he is not participating in the Vuelta.

Nourished Italian patrol

Returning precisely to the Vuelta, there are two interesting aspects. The one that concerns us closely is the fierce Italian presence. Finally, after so much low profile, we start with a group of riders (18) who can be protagonists both in the stages and in the classification. The most creditable name is that of Giulio Ciccone, 30 years old, an Abruzzese of Lidl Trek, in his tenth season among the pros with 13 overall successes. After retiring from the Giro d'Italia, Ciccone won the San Sebastian Classic and a stage of the Vuelta a Burgos. A climber with an excellent sprint, Giulio can both fight for the podium and for a fine stage victory. He could also aim for the best climber's jersey, a feat he has already achieved at both the Giro d'Italia (2019) and the Tour (2023). A goal, if he hits it, that would put him in the history of world cycling. He will, however, have to make up his mind, which is not always his forte, but this time it might be the right time.

In addition to Ciccone, another one to watch out for is Giulio Pellizzari, 21 years old from the Marche region, who came sixth at the last Giro d'Italia. His task at Red Bull will be to support his captain, Englishman Hai Hindley. But the young man, they realised in his team, can astonish and therefore could enjoy a certain freedom of action. Not to be forgotten, again for the classification, is Antonio Tiberi, 25, of Bahrain Victorius. He has been promising for a long time, he has always been on the rise, and now he could strike a blow. Giving him a hand will be the stainless Damiano Caruso, who from the height of his 37 years could support him in the role of director. Worth mentioning, for the time trials, is Filippo Ganna, who, after a nasty crash at the Tour, is also recovering from a nagging flu, which he should, however, have overcome.

The second interesting aspect is the other big names who will try to make life difficult for Vingegaard. The first is 27-year-old Portuguese rider Joao Almeida, who also crashed badly at the Tour. Almeida, leader of the Uae Emirates, is Vingegaard's main rival. In his team, however, the Spaniard Juan Ayuso, a young talent who is also ready to compete with his captain, is on the offensive. The premises for a good cohabitation are not the best.

Not to be forgotten, finally, is Ben O'Connor, second in 2024. The Australian is in excellent form and with a team (Jayco AlUla) built around him. As always, it will be a very tough and selective Vuelta. With 21 stages, 3180 km of racing and eleven uphill finishes to the delight of the climbers who will be chasing the red jersey, the one that will take the Vuelta winner to Madrid.