The 2025 Vuelta a España begins with an unexpected accent and a celebratory air. In its 80th edition, the Spanish Grand Tour sets off from Italian soil, specifically from Piedmont, a region of noble wines, which will serve as the inaugural stage for a race that had never looked so far east.
The Italian start of the 2025 Vuelta will consist of three stages: the first, departing from the Reggia di Venaria Reale and finishing in Novara, a day designed for the sprinters to shine and claim the red jersey. The second, much tougher, with a final climb to Limone Piemonte, where the favorites will be forced to show their cards much earlier than usual. The third, heading towards Ceres, on rugged terrain that promises tension and breakaways. An opening as aesthetic as it is demanding, setting the tone for what is to come.
The route offers no respite: after the Alpine passes leading into France in the fourth stage, the peloton returns to Spain with a team time trial in Figueres that will put the leading squads to the test.
The big mountains arrive early, with two Pyrenean stages finishing in Andorra and Cerler, where the contenders will surely want to impose their authority and prevent the race from slipping away. And more demanding stages will follow, such as stage 11 in the Basque Country (Bilbao – Bilbao), practically a classic with seven brutal climbs, certain to attract many suitors for the day’s victory.
We continue with the queen stage of the 2025 Vuelta: the arrival at the legendary Angliru, preceded by 200 kilometers and several mountain passes designed to turn the race upside down. Whoever crests it first will write their name into the history of one of cycling’s most mythical climbs.
In the third week, another time trial in Valladolid will serve as the final test before the decisive mountain stage in the central system. And there, as always, the Vuelta becomes solemn: Angliru, La Farrapona and, almost as an epilogue, the Bola del Mundo, stages of epic battles where the race is decided by seconds and ambition is measured in watts and faith.
The Vuelta a España, passing through the Netherlands in 2022. By WeeJeeVee – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=122130212
Vingegaard, the weight of the favorite
In this setting, all eyes are on Jonas Vingegaard. Visma-Lease a Bike surrounds him with a trusted squad: Sepp Kuss, who already knows what it is to win this Vuelta, Matteo Jorgenson, a man for all terrains, and experienced domestiques such as Kelderman. It is a team that smells of control and power, designed to protect its leader, keep the race calm, and give him wings on the great summits.
But no one wants this to be a Danish monologue. UAE Emirates is betting big with two complementary cards: João Almeida, solid in the mountains and lethal in the time trial, and Juan Ayuso, the Spanish prodigy destined to become the present. Between them, they can weave a strategy of attrition that could unsettle even Vingegaard.
INEOS Grenadiers arrive with Egan Bernal at the helm, increasingly closer to the version that won the Giro and the Tour before his accident. Supported by Filippo Ganna—a natural candidate for the Valladolid time trial—and veterans like Kwiatkowski, the Colombian comes with the mission of reclaiming a Grand Tour podium.
A race like the Vuelta is never just about the general classification. The daily battle for stages promises as much fire as the fight for red. Mads Pedersen arrives with sharp aim to contest the green jersey in the fast finishes, where Jasper Philipsen will also seek his place. In the mountains, riders like Giulio Ciccone (recent winner of the Clásica San Sebastián) or Antonio Tiberi can stir things up from the breakaways. And in the time trials, Ganna’s power threatens to erase seconds from anyone who lets their guard down.
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Piedmont will open the doors, the Bola del Mundo will close the curtain. Between the two, three weeks of uncertainty, epic and passion. Because that is the Vuelta: unpredictable, cruel, brilliant.
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