Jumbo-Visma dominate the podium at the 2023 Vuelta a España (L to R): Jonas Vingegaard second, GC winner Sepp Kuss and Primož Roglič third(Image credit: Getty Images)
Wout Poels of Bahrain Victorious (right) outsprints Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) to win stage 20(Image credit: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Alberto Dainese wins stage 19(Image credit: Getty Images)
Remco Evenepoel wins stage 18(Image credit: MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP via Getty Images)
Primoz Roglic wins stage 17 atop Agliru(Image credit: MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP via Getty Images)
Jonas Vingegaard wins stage 16(Image credit: Getty Images)
Rui Costa wins stage 15(Image credit: Getty Images)
Geoffey Soupe (TotalEnergies) uses a bike throw to secure the stage 7 victory(Image credit: Getty Images)
Vuelta a Espana 2023: Sepp Kuss celebrates after winning stage 6(Image credit: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Kaden Groves celebrates as he crosses the finish line as winner of stage 5(Image credit: JOSE JORDAN / AFP via Getty Images)
Kaden Groves won the sprint on stage 4(Image credit: Getty Images)
Vuelta a Espana leader after stage 3 Remco Evenepoel(Image credit: Getty Images)
Scooping up bonus seconds in the breakaway, Andrea Piccolo of EF Education-EasyPost earned the Red Leader Jersey after stage 2(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Team dsm-firmenich, the second squad on the rain-soaked course, won the team time trial on stage 1 of the 2023 Vuelta a España(Image credit: Getty Images)
Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) finished in the peloton to secure the GC title of the 2023 Vuelta a Espana on Sunday in Madrid. His teammates Jonas Vingegaard and Primož Roglič completed the podium for a Jumbo-Visma 1-2-3 overall, the team also taking out all three Grand Tours in the same year.
Stage 21 was won in a sprint by Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) holding off Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) at the line. For Groves, it was his third win of this Vuelta and he secured the green jersey in the process.
Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) outsprinted Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) to win stage 20 of the Vuelta a España from a reduced-group sprint. Pelayo Sánchez (Burgos-BH) took third, ahead of Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny) and Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) who were made up the final front group from a breakaway of 31 on the hilly 208km day.
Remnants of the peloton were scattered across the final flat section, with race leader Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) in solid control of the GC lead and first-ever Grand Tour win. He crossed the line alongside teammates Jonas Vingegaard and Primož Roglič with Sunday's finale expected to see all three on the GC podium.
Alberto Dainese added a victory at the Vuelta a España to his Giro d’Italia win to sign-off from Team DSM-Firmenich with a final success. The Italian will join Fabian Cancellara’s Tudor Pro Cycling team in 2024 but showed his speed in Íscar.
He also showed his bike skills by avoiding a late crash that took out points classification leader Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and several of his own teammates.
Italy dominated the sprint finish, with Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) taking second and Daivd Cimolai (Cofidis) fourth after a fast stage on the flat roads of northern Spain.
The USA’s Sepp Kuss and his Jumbo-Visma teammates enjoyed a quiet but dominant day in the peloton and just one final mountain stage separates them from a historical 1-2-3 and Kuss’ overall success. The likeable domestique turned race leader just needs to finish near Vingegaard and within a minute of Roglič to secure overall victory in Madrid on Sunday.
Kuss leads the overall classification by 17 seconds ahead of Vingegaard and 1:08 on Roglič ahead of the 207.8 km stage 20 from Manzanares El Real to Guadarrama.
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) is making good on his promise of winning stages at the Vuelta a España, taking his third soloed stage win at La Cruz de Linares on stage 18. The Belgian champion has also secured the victory in the mountain classification.
Sepp Kuss continues to lead the overall classification by 17 seconds ahead of Jonas Vingegaard and 1:08 on Primož Roglič ahead of stage 19 from La Bañeza to Íscar on Friday.
Jumbo-Visma went 1-2-3 on stage 17 atopAltu de L'Angliru in what was another dominant display by the team at the Vuelta a España. Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard finished first and second after they distanced their teammate and overall race leader Sepp Kuss, who finished third on the day.
Kuss maintained his lead in the GC standing, now just eight seconds ahead of Vingegaard and 1:08 ahead of Roglič as the race heads into stage 18 from Pola de Allande to La Cruz de Linares on Thursday.
Jonas Vingegaard reshuffled the GC order by powering away from the field to victory on stage 16 into Bejes ahead of Finn Fisher-Black (UAE Team Emirates) and Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious). The Dane leapfrogged teammate Primož Roglič into second overall after taking his second stage victory of this year's Vuelta.
Vingegaard's other teammate Sepp Kuss extended his stint in the race leader's jersey but lost 1:15 to the two-time Tour de France winner who now sits only 29 seconds in arrears heading into the final five stages and the brutal summit finish up Altu de L'Angliru on stage 17.
Rui Costa put his long-time race experience to the test on stage 15, using his cagey race tactics and fast finish to win the breakaway sprint into Lekunberri. The Intermarché-Circus-Wanty rider beat Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious).
Sepp Kuss maintained his overall race lead at the end of the second week of racing, 1:37 ahead of teammate Primož Roglič and 1:44 ahead of Jonas Vingegaard in the GC standings.
Remco Evenepoel made a big turnaround from disappointment on stage 13 with a solo victory atop Puerto de Belagua on stage 14 at the Vuelta a España. The Belgian champion ignited a large day-long breakaway that ended with both himself and Romain Bardet (Team dsm-firmenich) battling it out for the stage win. Evenepoel took the day's glory at 1:12 ahead of Bardet. There were no changes to the overall classification as Jumbo-Visma's Sep Kuss, Primož Roglič, and Jonas Vingegaard hold the top three places.
Jumbo-Visma stamped their authority on the Vuelta, sweeping the top three spots on the stage, putting an end to Remco Evenepoel's GC hopes, and stacking the top three of the general classification on the stage to the Col du Tourmalet. Jonas Vingegaard attacked first and won the stage, followed by race leader Sepp Kuss and Primož Roglič.
In an anticipated sprinter's day at the Vuelta a España, Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates) was fastest to the line to win stage 12 in Zaragoza, as Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took second, and Boy van Poppel (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) rounded out the podium in third.
With the top of the overall standings unchanged, Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) brings the leader's jersey into the mountains on stage 13, which finishes at the top of Col du Tourmalet.
From a winning breakaway, Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) won the hilltop finish at La Laguna Negra.Vinuesa, securing the stage 11 victory at the Vuelta a España. Jonathan Caicedo (EF Education-EasyPost) was the first to surge on the final ascent, but he was caught at the line by a winning Herrada. Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) followed in for second place, and then Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny) in third, with Caicedo taking fourth. The overall classification contenders finished behind the breakaway, and the top three remained unchanged, with Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) retaining his 26-second lead on Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) third overall at 1:09 back.
Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) got the better of world champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) in the stage 10 time trial at the Vuelta a España. The Italian covered the 25.8km course with a time of 27:39 and an average speed of 56kph.
Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) finished in 13th on the day, but it was enough to maintain his overall race lead heading into stage 11, which finishes at the summit of La Laguna Negra.Vinuesa on Wednesday.
Jumping from the eight-man breakaway on the final tough climb, Lennard Kämna (Bora-hansgrohe) soloed to victory at the Collado de la Cruz de Caravaca. Matteo Sobrero (Jayco-AlUla) and Chris Hamilton (dsm-firmenich) took second and third, respectively on a day that saw multiple echelon attacks in the crosswinds. Due to poor conditions at the finish, the GC timings were taken at the 2.05km mark, bringing relatively little changes in the race for the red jersey. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) remains on top with a reduced margin to the big favourites.
Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) outsprinted Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) at the line to win stage 8 with Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) taking third from a select group that also included Jumbo-Visma men Jonas Vingegaard and Sepp Kuss, UAE Team Emirates pair João Almeida and Marc Soler, and Movistar’s Enric Mas.
Kuss is the new leader with 43 seconds lead on Solerm while Evenepoel, Vingegaard, Mas, Ayuso and Almeida, all separated by 38 seconds, are at over two minutes down.
Geoffrey Soupe (TotalEnergies) surprised the top sprinters and won stage 7 of the Vuelta a España on Friday. Soupe used a bike throw to hold off second-placed Orluis Aular (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) at the line in Oliva. Trek-Lidl’s Edward Theuns was third. Sprint leader Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) finished fifth. The expected showdown of big sprinters was disrupted by a crash of 15 riders 5km from the line, with all but Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) able to continue. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), second on GC, was part of the crash, but finished in the bunch along with GC leader Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) to keep the overall the same.
The second summit finish of the 2023 Vuelta went to the day's large breakaway, with Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) soloing away from the move on the climb to the observatory and Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) taking the leader's jersey. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) not only gave up the lead, he also lost 32 seconds to Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard after the Jumbo-Visma duo attacked in the final kilometres of the stage.
Kaden Groves made it two in a row in bunch sprints at the Vuelta a España, beating surprise sprint challenger Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers). Remco Evenepoel added to his race lead by taking the intermediate time bonus, adding a six-second pad to his advantage over Enric Mas (Movistar).
The first bunch sprint of the Vuelta went to Alpecin-Deceuninck's Kaden Groves, who powered past Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates) in a technical, crash-marred sprint in Tarragona. While race leader Remco Evenepoel would have happily given away the red leader's jersey to a non-threatening rider from a breakaway, the sprinters' teams decided otherwise and tightly controlled the stage.
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) out-sprinted Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) on a well-controlled stage 3 to Andorra, where the overall contenders marked each other until the final 200 metres.
The category 1 climb saw a few riders lose time, most notably Geraint Thomas.
Andreas Krön (Lotto Dstny) won stage 2 of the Vuelta a España in Barcelona on another wet and chaotic day. The Dane went off the front from the top of Castell de Montjuic to claim the victory, seven seconds ahead of Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Andrea Vendrame (AG2R Citroën), in second and third, respectively. From a two-rider breakaway, Andrea Piccolo (EF Education-EasyPost) moved into the race lead with 11 seconds on his breakmate Javier Romo (Astana Qazaqstan).
Team dsm-firmenich won the opening stage of the 2023 Vuelta a España, surviving treacherous conditions in the pouring rain in the team time trial. The second team to start, they finished the 14.8km course in a time of 17:30. Spanish squad Movistar had just five riders left and finished second by less than a second as all riders were not able to stick together at the line. EF Education-EasyPost finished third. The victory put Lorenzo Milesi of Team dsm-firmenich in the first leader’s jersey.
The Vuelta a España or Tour of Spain will get underway for its 78th edition on 26 August 2023 in Barcelona, with the Gran Salida returning to Spanish soil after last season's start in the Netherlands. The race will finish in Madrid on 17 September 2023.
The dates for the Grand Tours have shifted by one week to make room for the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, where the road events take place between 5-13 August.
The theme of the 2023 Vuelta a España is climbing, with ten stages ending with uphill finishes, including the punishing ascents such as the Col du Tourmalet on the same day as the hors categorie Col d'Aubisque, Col du Soulor and Col de Spandelles, and a short but frantic stage finishing on the brutally steep Altu de l’Angliru.
The 3,154km route features only 39.6km of time trialling, starting with the opening 14.6km team time trial, and the 25km individual time trial on stage 10.
The 2023 Vuelta a España route includes a demanding final week with two tough summit finishes including the fearsome Angliru capping off a 122.6-kilometre, action-packed day of climbing on stage 17, followed by a new summit finish on the Puerto de la Cruz de Linares on stage 18.
Other climbs that will be seen for the first time include the Arinsal in Andorra (stage 3), Larra -Belagua (stage 14), and Bejes (stage 16).
Vuelta a España 2023 contenders
Rivals Remco Evenepoel and Primož Roglič (Image credit: Getty Images)
2022 champion Remco Evenpoel (Soudal-Quickstep) will return to defend his title against a high-quality field. The newly crowned time trial world champion had initially targeted the Giro d’Italia this year, where he was in the lead before he had to quit because of COVID-19.
The Belgian will have to contend with three-time Vuelta winner Primož Roglič (2019, 2020, 2021) who crashed out in 2022 and returned to win his first Giro d'Italia in May. Roglič will co-lead Jumbo-Visma alongside double Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard, as the Dutch team aim to become the first squad ever to win all three Grand Tours in a single year.
Other top names pencilled in for the Vuelta are former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), second in 2022, Enric Mas (Movistar), twice runner-up (2022, 2021) and Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) who was third last year at the age of 20.
The 2023 Vuelta a España will be made up of 22 teams, 18 WorldTour teams, the two top-ranked second-division teams, and two discretionary wild-card teams.
La Vall d’Uixó - Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre
181.3km
September 1
Stage 7
Utiel - Oliva
188.8km
September 2
Stage 8
Dénia - Xorret de Catí, Costa Blanca Interior
164.8km
September 3
Stage 9
Cartagena - Collado de la Cruz de Caravaca
180.9km
September 4
Rest day
Valladolid
Row 9 - Cell 3
September 5
Stage 10
Valladolid - Valladolid
25km
September 6
Stage 11
Lerma - La Laguna Negra, Vinuesa
163.2km
September 7
Stage 12
Ólvega - Zaragoza
165.4km
September 8
Stage 13
Formigal, Huesca la Magia - Col du Tourmalet
134.7km
September 9
Stage 14
Sauveterre-de-Béarn - Larra-Belagua
161.7km
September 10
Stage 15
Pamplona - Lekunberri
156.5km
September 11
Rest day
Santander
Row 16 - Cell 3
September 12
Stage 16
Liencres Playa - Bejes
119.7km
September 13
Stage 17
Ribadesella/Ribeseya - Altu de L'Angliru
122.6km
September 14
Stage 18
Pola de Allande - La Cruz de Linares
178.9km
September 15
Stage 19
La Bañeza - Ísca
177.4km
September 16
Stage 20
Manzanares El Real - Guadarrama
208.4km
September 17
Stage 21
Hipódromo de la Zarzuela - Madrid, Paisaje de la Luz
101km
Vuelta a España history
The youngest of the three Grand Tours, the Vuelta a España was established in 1935, with early editions interrupted by the Spanish Civil War and World War II.
Since 1955, the race has grown in prestige as one of three Grand Tours. In 1963, Jacques Anquetil claimed the victory to become the first rider to win all three.
The race's fame took a dark turn in 1968 when it was the subject of a terrorist attack when the Basque nationalist group ETA detonated a bomb along the course of stage 15 (there were no fatalities).
Before 1995 its April date hampered the quality of the fields it could attract as it was in conflict with the major Spring Classics and the Giro d'Italia.
After moving to an August-September time slot, the race has become a key preparation race for the UCI Road World Championships.
Past winners include Luis Ocaña, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Sean Kelly, Tony Rominger, Alberto Contador, Chris Froome and Alejandro Valverde. Most recently, Primož Roglič won three in a row between 2019 and 2021.
In the 2022 Vuelta a España, Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep) dominated in his first serious attempt at winning a Grand Tour. The Belgian took the lead on the first summit finish at Pico Jano and never relinquished the red jersey.
Vuelta a España records
Most stage wins: 39 by Delio Rodríguez in the 1940s
Most days in leader's jersey: 48, Alex Zülle
Most overall wins: 4, Roberto Heras (one of which he won back in court after being disqualified for doping)
