With the Vuelta a Burgos finishing on the steep Lagunas de Neila a week before the Gran Salida and now that the official field of participants of the Vuelta a España 2021 is also complete, the list of favorites for the 76th Tour of Spain can be presented. Voorjaarsklassiekers.be looks ahead to the favorites of the general classification. Which riders will compete for the maillot rojo in the Vuelta 2021? Read our favourites and contenders Vuelta 2021 preview!
Vuelta 2021: Favorites general classification / Favourites red jersey Vuelta a España 2021
Although it could have been even more spectacular if Tadej Pogačar had been absent – the winner of the yellow jersey in the Tour de France a month ago and winner of the silver medal in the road race of the Olympics two weeks ago is taking a break, not entirely undeservedly so – the cycling fans should not complain. With the participants and favorites, we seem to be heading for an unpredictable, tough but hopefully very exciting 76th Vuelta a España.
Someone who thinks differently, is Primož Roglič. Excitement and sensation is for tifosi, for the Slovenian of Jumbo-Visma the coming weeks only one thing counts: to win the Tour of Spain for the third time in a row. The winner of last year’s Vuelta is the ultimate sporting revenge for his Tour de France victory, which he lost on the penultimate day. With helpers Sepp Kuss and Steven Kruiswijk in the high mountains, his team cannot match the brute force that INEOS Grenadiers bring, however, given his own class, he is our number one. The favorite. He showed that he is in top form again in the individual time trial at the Olympic Games two weeks ago. Who can keep Roglič from a third victory in a row?
We already mentioned the British formation. If there is one team that should be able to hurt the Slovenian – jointly or not, through their leader or not – it’s them. The multi-million dollar formation of the British chemical company comes to the start with Egan Bernal as its leader. The Colombian already won the Giro d’Italia this year, which means that at the age of 24 he already has two of the three Grand Tours in his pocket. Only nine riders have won two Grand Tours in a single season, a feat last accomplished by Chris Froome when he won the Tour and Vuelta in 2017. The number three rider in this spring’s Strade Bianche, who shook the tree at the Vuelta a Burgos only in the final stage to the steep Lagunas de Neila, has three more riders with Adam Yates, Richard Carapaz and Pavel Sivakov who would have been the absolute front-runner at almost any other UCI WorldTour team.
Yates first of all, will most likely serve himself in the role of super servant, however, in the Tour of Catalonia, where he finished first ahead of teammates Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas, the Briton also showed he can ride for his own success. The Ecudorian Richard Carapaz – third in the Tour and brand new Olympic road champion – will want to continue his good form and preferably not compete with but against Bernal for the win. Sivakov finally wants to revenge himself on the Giro d’Italia, where he had to leave the race before the end of the sixth stage. The Russian finished fourth in the Vuelta Burgos, so the form is back. How strong is INEOS and who will finish on the podium?
Someone who knows how to finish on the podium of the Vuelta a España is Hugh Carthy. The 27-year-old mountain king of EF Education – Nippo rode handsomely to a third place in the general classification at the 2020 Vuelta, and his performance in stage races this year also argues for a selection of Carthy in your Vuelta pool. In classifications, he finished eighth in the Tour of Catalonia, 12th in the Basque Country, fifth in the Tour of Alps and eighth in the Giro d’Italia.
He is also in good shape, given his great stage win on the Lagunas de Neila in the final stage of the Vuelta a Burgos. Can the Brit in the Vuelta 2021 improve on last year’s performance?
Outsiders and contenders Vuelta 2021
Someone who also looks back at that last stage of the Vuelta Burgos with a smile is Mikel Landa. Where Carthy walked off with the flowers for the day’s victory, the 31-year-old Basque was honored on the podium as the overall winner of the general classification. Landa, who had an unfortunate fall in the Giro d’Italia, took advantage of a complete off-day of DSM rider Romain Bardet and thus received a final boost ahead of the Vuelta. What does the Bahrain Victorius leader have up his sleeve on the way to Santiago de Compostela?
At Movistar they will again go for the shared leadership of Enric Mas and Miguel Ángel López. The one can look back on an excellent Tour de France, the other will appear at the start full of revenge. The first 26-year old Mas first of all, rode to a sixth place in the general classification in France and will want to continue his form level. The Colombian López, however, will have to pull out of a different barrel. Already in the first week of Le Grance Boucle he lost so much time that a good final classification was already out of the question. The fact that he only gave up in the nineteenth stage says a lot about his fighting spirit. Was already third in the Vuelta of 2018 and will in the Vuelta 2021 again want to make a bid for the podium. Or can he compete for the win? In any case, a dark horse in our eyes and definitely someone who should be included in your Vuelta pool.
Behind these top favorites, there are still many riders who can make a bid for a top-10 – or maybe even top-5 – classification. Aleksandr Vlasov for example. Was fourth in the Giro d’Italia this year and has with the Vuelta a new goal this year. However, rode a disappointing Vuelta Burgos, so it remains to be seen how his form is. Guilio Ciccone is another standout in the 2021 Tour of Italy. In the first two weeks still high in the general classification, he was forced to give up in third week. He will be the card to play at Trek-Segafredo in the Vuelta 2021.
And finally, what about Mark Padun and Fabio Aru? The Ukrainian Padun, less known to the general public, broke through in the Dauphiné, where he won the penultimate and final stage. And his form is good: the rider from Bahrain rode an excellent Vuelta Burgos, where he eventually finished third. Fabio Aru finally became second in the same race. The now 31-year-old Italian in the service of Team Qhubeka NextHash won the Vuelta a España in 2015. A brilliant crowning achievement of a wonderful round, of which many more would follow. Were the thoughts at the time, at least. How different it is now. Rode the Axion SWISS Bank Gran Premio Citta du Lugano instead of the Tour de France. But racing, he can still do that. Can Aru surprise again?
Last but not least a row of riders we simply don’t know. Romain Bardet rode a good first part of the Vuelta Burgos, then completely fell through in the final stretch. Can Alejandro Valverde, Marc Soler and David de La Cruz pull off a stunt by taking a shot at the podium?
And the Belgians and Dutch? The Belgians, with Harm Vanhoucke and Dylan Teuns, don’t have so much as a favorite for the red jersey in the Vuelta 2021, however, both of these riders could easily go for day success. The Dutch, with Steven Kruiswijk and Wout Poels, have two riders who may not go for their own success – they will have to groom for Roglic and Landa respectively – but perhaps with Thymen Arensman they have an outsider in the house.
Favourites overall Vuelta a España 2021 according to Voorjaarsklassiekers.be:
***** Primož Roglič
**** Egan Bernal
*** Richard Carapaz
** Hugh Carhty
* Mikel Landa
Dark horse: Miguel Ángel López