Dutch super team Visma-Lease a Bike have announced their squad for the upcoming Vuelta a España, confirming which riders will try to help Jonas Vinegegaard win his first red jersey.
The two-time Tour de France winner missed out on victory to Tadej Pogačar in July again this year, but Vinegegaard will be hoping he can still come away from 2025 with a Grand Tour victory, as he heads to Spain as a key favourite, with a support team of proven three-week riders.
Key in the Dane's mountain support will be Sepp Kuss, who won the 2023 Vuelta in the year that Visma-Lease a Bike swept the podium in Madrid. That was Vingegaard's last appearance in Spain, and he took second behind his teammate despite looking stronger in the final week.
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Another American, Matteo Jorgenson, will also be alongside Vingegaard after suffering with illness at the Tour, whilst Victor Campenaerts joins the complement of riders doing the Tour-Vuelta double for Visma after proving himself as an invaluable domestique in July.
Completing the line-up are Dylan van Baarle, Wilco Kelderman, Axel Zingle, and Ben Tulett, with the young British climber making his Vuelta debut and riding his first Grand Tour for Visma after racing the 2022 Giro d'Italia for Ineos Grenadiers.
Vingegaard will start the race in Turin on Saturday as a big favourite, and was clear that his ambitions match the expectations around him.
"I’m here for the overall win, and with this team supporting me, that seems like a realistic goal," he said.
"There are many stages where differences can be made, so it’s important to be ready from the very start. I’m ready and would prefer to start racing right away."
"The overall win is our big goal, there’s no need to be coy about that,” Visma's Head of Racing Grischa Niermann added.
"Jonas is our leader and our biggest chance for the overall victory. But with Sepp Kuss, we have a former winner at the start, and Matteo Jorgenson has recovered well after the Tour de France.
"Together with Wilco Kelderman, Ben Tulett, Victor Campenaerts, Dylan van Baarle, and Axel Zingle, we have a team that can support Jonas in every situation."
Though this year's Vuelta route features no fewer than 11 uphill or summit finishes, the team have brought a mixture of climbers and rouleurs, with an eye on the variety of stages, including a team time trial on stage 5.
"We’ll have to be ready every day, but that’s what we expect in a Grand Tour," Niermann said.
"There are quite a few interesting stages, including the team time trial and the individual time trial in stage 18. And of course, the finishes on the Angliru and Bola del Mundo are always special."
Vingegaard has not raced since finishing second at the Tour, but was quickly back focusing on the Vuelta as he attempts to arrive at the start as fresh as the riders who did not race the Tour.
"After the Tour, I first took some rest and then started my preparations for this next main goal of my season," he said.
"In recent weeks, I’ve been on an individual training camp, with support from the team on site."
No Roglič for Red Bull
Two years on from that Visma podium sweep, Vingegaard and Kuss are returning to the Vuelta, but the third-placed finisher and four-time winner Primož Roglič will not be in attendance.
Roglič was the favourite for the 2023 Vuelta, but came away with third after some intra-team friction that saw Kuss hold onto red, and the Slovenian departed Visma shortly after, making a move to what is now Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
He won the 2024 Vuelta with Red Bull, marking his fourth title in the Spanish Grand Tour, but will not be defending his red jersey after already riding the Giro and Tour this year.
Instead, Red Bull will look to Jai Hindley as their leader, after announcing on Monday a team that includes the Australian Grand Tour winner, Giro sixth-place finisher Giulio Pellizzari, and 2025 signing Finn Fisher-Black.
The Vuelta will start on Saturday, August 23, and conclude on Sunday, September 14.
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