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.
“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.
“We’ll have to be ready every day, but that’s what we expect in a Grand Tour,” Niermann said.
“In recent weeks, I’ve been on an individual training camp, with support from the team on site.”
No Roglic 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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