There may be a very obvious overall favorite to win the Vuelta a España, but that won’t keep the race from offering up some good storylines.
The 2026 Vuelta a España is just a day away from its Gran Salida in Monaco, where the biggest name in road racing will headline the startlist. With 2025 winner Jonas Vingegaard sitting the race out, Tadej Pogačar is a stronger favorite for the overall victory than seems even possible for a Grand Tour. At the same time, it’s hard to argue with the oddsmakers given how dominant he has been for several years running. Barring a crash or a bout with illness, the contenders conversation is more of a contender conversation.
Fortunately, there is some real star power headed to Spain this month, and there should be some intriguing storylines to follow if you can look past what could be a pretty uneventful GC battle. With that in mind, we can broaden our horizons a bit.
Assuming you’ve already checked out our stage-by-stage guide to the race, here are the marquee riders set to star in the show when the final Grand Tour of the year gets underway on Saturday …
The contenders
Here is the quick and dirty of how we see the top favorites for the red jersey:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: Tadej Pogačar
⭐⭐⭐⭐: N/A
⭐⭐⭐: Felix Gall, João Almeida, Oscar Onley
⭐⭐: Mattias Skjelmose, Richard Carapaz, Primož Roglič
⭐: Enric Mas, Tobias Halland Johannessen, Jørgen Nordhagen, Sepp Kuss
Who has a chance if Pogačar falters?
Frankly, this should be an easy win for Pogačar. He can outclimb anyone in the world, he can probably put up a better time trial than any of the other GC types at the Vuelta, and he has worked hard to improve in hot conditions. For those who enjoy seeing the most dominant rider of the millennium doing his thing, this will be a can’t-miss race as he bids for a seventh career Grand Tour title and, crucially, the one he has yet to win.
A young Tadej Pogačar made his first ever Grand Tour start at the Vuelta back in 2019, riding to three stage wins and third overall.
It would be a surprise to see anyone come particularly close to the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader – but you can never rule out catastrophe. We won’t dwell on that unsavory possibility, but we will highlight a handful of GC outsiders and then some more intriguing names too.
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