Of the three Grand Tours, the Giro d’Italia might practically all the time be the hardest bodily and the Tour de France essentially the most demanding when it comes to psychological strain. But summer time after summer time, in relation to richly unpredictable race motion from begin to end, the Vuelta a España stays in a category of its personal.
In final yr’s Vuelta, for instance, who might have anticipated that Sepp Kuss, well-known as a high assist climber however by no means beforehand a GC contender, would battle in opposition to all the percentages – and even his personal teammates at occasions – to seize North America’s first Grand Tour in a decade? Or that Remco Evenepoel, so assured a conqueror of the Vuelta in 2022, would collapse so spectacularly within the first main Pyrenean stage? Or that lower than 12 months after Juan Ayuso had grow to be the second youngest Grand Tour podium finisher ever within the Vuelta, up-and-coming French climbing expertise Lenny Martínez would push the bar even larger and grow to be the 79-year-old Vuelta’s youngest-ever chief?
If Kuss’ tenacious battle for a landmark Grand Tour win wasn’t thrilling sufficient, the battle for supremacy in biking’s third and remaining Grand Tour of 2024 might be much more wide-open than in 2023 – and equally fascinating to look at because of this. In stark comparability to a Giro d’Italia and a Tour de France dominated from begin to end by Tadej Pogačar, each one of many Vuelta’s trademark ultra-steep summit finishes, each set-piece battle within the mountains of Sierra Nevada, Asturias and the Basque Country and each metre of the primary and final time trial of the Vuelta a España on the streets of Lisbon and Madrid might but grow to be the purpose the place the 2024 total is received or misplaced. And like Kuss in 2023 and so many riders earlier than him in Spain’s Grand Tour, that win might be a key basis stone for breakthrough triumphs and even loftier targets within the years to come back.
To hazard a guess who will emerge the winner in such a fraught, continuously difficult, and brutally aggressive occasion because the Vuelta a Espana 2024 is all however unattainable. And within the blink-and-you-missed-it kaleidoscope of such quickly altering race situations, the necessity to keep carefully and reliably knowledgeable might hardly be better. To fulfil all these necessities with up-to-date evaluation, insightful interviews, and in-depth previews, although, it’s worthwhile to look no additional than Cyclingnews. Now in its fourth decade of on-the-ground reporting from Spain’s Grand Tour and as soon as once more greater than able to furnish every thing it’s worthwhile to keep on high of your individual Vuelta recreation, all the way in which from Lisbon by means of to Madrid.
Alasdair Fotheringham and Barry Ryan will likely be on the bottom for Cyclingnews, offering the newest information, unique interviews, and evaluation of key race moments as they comply with the Vuelta a España from Lisbon to Madrid through a number of mountain summits and picture-postcard coastal locations.
They’ll be supported by the Cyclingnews group in Europe, North America and Australia, with stay updates from each stage guaranteeing you don’t miss any of the motion, detailed stage previews to whet your urge for food for the racing to come back, in addition to breathtaking picture galleries and in-depth options to dig deeper into La Vuelta’s wealthy tradition.
Philippa York will share distinctive perception and context into the Grand Tour’s storylines, serving to you perceive the dynamics behind the final classification and key jersey battles.
Meanwhile, our senior tech author Will Jones will likely be in and amongst the group buses to seize the bikes and tools on present for the primary time on the yr’s remaining Grand Tour.
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Visit our Vuelta a España hub web page for extra info on the ultimate Grand Tour of the 2024 season.