{"id":68266,"date":"2025-08-14T05:39:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-14T05:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/68266\/"},"modified":"2025-08-14T05:39:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T05:39:08","slug":"vuelta-a-espana-set-for-high-stakes-showdown-with-vingegaard-almeida-and-gee-in-mix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/68266\/","title":{"rendered":"Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a set for high-stakes showdown with Vingegaard, Almeida and Gee in mix"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Tour de France may still be fresh in the memory, but the final big ole stage race of the year is almost here. In just over a week, the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a will roll out from Italy, kicking off a three-week battle that will see some of the sport\u2019s biggest names chasing late-season glory.<\/p>\n<p>Vingegaard back for another go<\/p>\n<p>Jonas Vingegaard (<a href=\"https:\/\/cyclingmagazine.ca\/sections\/news\/jonas-vingegaard-is-now-a-hansen-and-i-for-one-very-much-approve\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hansen<\/a>) will line up for his third Vuelta, having turned his focus to Spain shortly after finishing on the podium in July\u2019s Tour de France. The 27-year-old Dane made his Grand Tour debut in the 2020 edition and claimed second overall in 2023 behind teammate Sepp Kuss.<\/p>\n<p>Visma \u2013 Lease a Bike has named a squad built around Vingegaard, with Kuss returning as a key climbing ally and Matteo Jorgenson getting another chance to lead in support.<\/p>\n<p>Tadej Poga\u010dar had been expected to ride the Vuelta. But the Slovenian opted for an extended rest after a demanding spring campaign and Tour victory. The dude is tired.<\/p>\n<p>He will instead target the upcoming world championships in Rwanda and the European championships in France.<\/p>\n<p>Without their marquee rider, UAE Emirates will share leadership between Jo\u00e3o Almeida and Juan Ayuso. The Portuguese contender has been sidelined since a Tour crash, leaving questions about his form. Ayuso abandoned the Giro d\u2019Italia in May and has struggled for top results since, but could yet emerge as the team\u2019s clear GC hope. They\u2019ll be supported by Jay Vine, Marc Soler, Domen Novak, Mikkel Bjerg, Felix Grossschartner and Ivo Oliveira.<\/p>\n<p>The 2025 Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a begins Aug. 23 in Torino before winding its way across Spain\u2019s punishing mountain ranges. With two Grand Tour winners in the mix, multiple podium contenders and a host of stage-hunting specialists, the race promises a fierce conclusion to the cycling season.<\/p>\n<p>Osgoode, Ont.\u2019s Derek <a href=\"https:\/\/cyclingmagazine.ca\/sections\/news\/how-to-watch-derek-gee-at-la-vuelta-a-espana\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Gee<\/a> heads to his second Grand Tour of the year at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a. This followed a strong fourth-place finish at the Giro d\u2019Italia in May. After making a name for himself in 2023 with multiple top finishes and high rankings in the KOM and sprint competitions, Gee and his team shifted focus to GC ambitions.<\/p>\n<p>In 2024, he won the overall at O Gran Cami\u00f1o, took a stage at the Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9 and finished third overall, and in 2025 he placed fourth at Tirreno\u2013Adriatico. He also showed he can compete with the very best, finishing ninth at the 2024 Tour de France.<\/p>\n<p>Now, Gee arrives at the Vuelta as a genuine podium contender. Not just podium\u2026but the whole damn thing. Vingegaard stands in his way, but who knows? Three weeks is a long time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Tour de France may still be fresh in the memory, but the final big ole stage race&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68267,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[37377,49,48,635,37378,5900,82],"class_list":["post-68266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-2025-vuelta-a-espana","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-derek-gee","tag-jonas-vingegaard","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68266"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68266\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}