Maybe it’s the nine summit finishes in 21 days. Maybe it’s tackling Spain’s toughest single ascent, the Angliru, with its 28% slopes and the Tourmalet, the hardest climb in the Pyrenees. Maybe it’s the natural consequence of flinging the defending Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana champions into the same melting pot and seeing who comes out strongest. But however you look at it, the 2023 Vuelta a Espana is set to be a Grand Tour for the ages.
A showdown between stars of the calibre of double Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard, teammate and - perhaps - rival contender Primož Roglič and the phenomenally successful young Belgian racer Remco Evenepoel would be attractive enough in any event. But after Evenepoel’s COVID-induced debacle at the Giro d’Italia and Vingegaard’s stirring triumph over arch-rival Tadej Pogačar at the Tour de France, not to mention Roglič’s chance to take a record-equaling fourth Vuelta title, the stakes are even higher than usual.
Traditionally a far more unpredictable, tactically complex firecracker of a race than the Tour de France, the Vuelta hits the mountains far earlier than any other Grand Tour this year, too, on stage 3 in the Pyrenees. The non-stop Spanish stream of summit finishes and leg-breakingly steep ascents, the often intense heat and not a few mad dashes across the plains of Castille and Aragon that follow all but guarantee a no-holds-barred battle for supremacy. Yet even if the key ascents are conquered by the GC contenders, stages as outside the box as the constantly undulating, hilly trek through the sierras of Madrid on the final weekend or the 20-kilometre, grinding ascent to Caravaca in the south mean there is never a chance of a moment’s let-up from the action.
To hazard a guess who will emerge the winner in such a fraught, constantly challenging race as the Vuelta a Espana 2023, the last Grand Tour of the season, is all but impossible - and that's part of the Vuelta's unfailing appeal. But for up-to-date, on-the-nail analysis, on-the-spot interviews and in-depth previews, in its 30th year reporting on Spain’s biggest bike race, Cyclingnews will once again furnish all you need to stay on top of your own Vuelta game, all the way from Barcelona to Madrid.
Cyclingnews will produce regular race analysis features and detailed stage previews alongside stunning premium image galleries and long-read ad-lite premium features.
Philippa York and other expert columnists will provide unique insight and context into the inside of the race to help you understand the dynamics behind the general classification and key jersey battles.
Our tech journalists will also capture the new bike and equipment used at the Vuelta a España.
We are experts on the #ProTech that the professional teams use, and we’ve broken the news on new bikes for 2023 at the Criterium du Dauphine and the Tour de France, new groupsets and even tyres which adjust their own pressures during races.
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