Two Grand Tours have been raced by the men's peloton so far in 2025, and at both the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, it was the same two teams who fought for the top spot – Visma Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates.
Visma's Simon Yates snatched the pink jersey from Isaac del Toro to win Italy with a stunning performance to Sestrière on the penultimate stage, while UAE's Tadej Pogačar defeated Jonas Vingegaard for a second year in a row at cycling's most prestigious race in July.
With the third Grand Tour kicking off this Saturday, August 23, in Turin, Italy, the Vuelta a España looks set to be another UAE vs Visma battle and decider for Grand Tour supremacy in 2025.
The men in yellow and black will have the overall favourite – Vingegaard – who is looking to better his runner-up finish at the Tour, while the Emirati outfit brings two of their top GC stars to try and capture the red jersey – João Almeida and Juan Ayuso.
All three have had different routes to the Vuelta, but on paper, they can be considered a cut above the rest of the GC favourites.
The rivalry between the super teams turned somewhat sour during the Tour and a third GT content is one season brings the possibility for more butting of heads.
Key to surviving the 21 stages and fighting out the key mountain stages will be their respective support squads. Both sides, thanks to their wealth of budget and talents, will start the Vuelta with impressive rosters, but whose is actually stronger – both in theory and on current form?
UAE have been far away the best team in cycling this season, but this Vuelta could bring the Grand Tour squad to 2-1 with Visma possibly starting with a stronger eight.
We've matched the eight UAE and Visma riders one-on-one to try and gauge who will be better when push comes to shove and the likes of Vingegaard, Ayuso or Almeida call for backup on the road to Madrid.
Jonas Vingegaard vs João Almeida
The first matchup is contentious before you even pit Vingegaard against Almeida, because it could easily be Ayuso in UAE's top slot – that hierarchy has yet to be decided – but based purely on their results in 2025, we have compared Almeida to Vingegaard.
On paper, this obviously runs easily in the Dane's favour, as a two-time Tour de France winner and having finished no worse than second overall in the six Grand Tours he's done since his 2020 debut at the Vuelta.
Vingegaard is also fresh off the back of another disappointing defeat to Almeida's teammate Pogačar in France, but he did prove once again that he is the second-best climber in the world, and with no Pogačar on the start line, the best heading to Spain.
Neither Vingegaard or Almeida have raced since the Tour, but for different reasons, with Almeida having to recover fully from the high-speed crash which eventually forced him to abandon before he could properly support Pogačar in the mountains.
Prior to this, the Portuguese rider had been absolutely flying and statistically the best stage racer in the peloton in 2025.
Almeida won Itzulia Basque Country, the Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse prior to the Tour. If he can rediscover that form, he should be well up for challenging Vingegaard.
Almeida will be looking to repeat what he did on stage 4 of this year's Paris-Nice, but on a larger scale. Vingegaard's violent accelerations hurt but Almeida will rely on his diesel engine and deterimation to tire out the Dane.
But if Vingegaard can carry his form from the Tour to the Vuelta, as he proved he can do in 2023 when he added second place to his victory in France while riding for Sepp Kuss in Spain, he should prove too strong for even a top-level Almeida.
Juan Ayuso vs Matteo Jorgenson
Juan Ayuso and Matteo Jorgenson haven't crossed paths all season, but they will at this year's Vuelta, likely as the next top climber on their respective teams. Both are still developing at rapid rates and hungry to improve their Grand Tour palmarès, but in this matchup, the winner seems obvious.
Ayuso is the much more accomplished Grand Tour racer, having netted a historic podium at just 19 on his Vuelta debut three years ago, followed this up with fourth overall a year later, and won a summit finish stage of this year's Giro.
Contrastingly, Jorgenson has fallen narrowly short of several stage win chances, with a best overall finish of eighth at last year's Tour.
The Spanish rider is also stronger in 2025 season results, with six wins to Jorgenson's one, which was Paris-Nice overall but Ayuso equalled this by triumphing at the concurrent Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy.
With the need for bonus seconds often proving key at the Vuelta, Ayuso's stage-winning punch makes him a more likely candidate, alongside his role as a more pure climber, suited to the brutal climbs in Spain.
As a Grand Tour GC rider, Ayuso is the obvious choice, but if you look a bit deeper into their roles, Jorgenson's stock rises dramatically.
The American isn't just climbing support, but his Classics versatility makes him vital to a leader's positioning and brings him into play on each of the medium mountain punchy finishes.
Jorgenson also has the advantage of clearly playing a support role, whereas Ayuso won't know if he is UAE's focus until either he or Almeida has a bad day and loses significant time.
Clarity and versatility make the Jorgenson vs Ayuso argument all the more difficult. Maybe one having the Tour de France in his legs – Jorgenson – and the other only having two-thirds of the Giro under his belt – Ayuso – will play a bigger role than expected.
Sepp Kuss vs Jay Vine
A former Vuelta winner enters the fray with Sepp Kuss taking on an eighth hit out at the Spanish Grand Tour. As the pure climbing domestique, once again riding for Vingegaard's ambitions, Kuss has been matched up with two-time Vuelta stage winner Jay Vine.
With that red jersey to his name, Kuss stands above Vine easily when it comes to whose palmarès is more accomplished. Also working in his favour is that his triumph at the Vuelta two years ago came off the back of working for Vingegaard and Primož Roglič.
Having built up his lead enough with a breakaway stage win and solid time trial effort, Kuss first endured pressure from his own teammates up the Angliru, but was then guided safely to the highlight of his career.
Vine hasn't yet those highs, and may never, having DNFed half of the Grand Tours he has started and never cracked the top 34 overall, but as was the case with Jorgenson, comparing the two requires more than just looking at their stats.
Kuss has a brutally tough Tour de France in his legs – where he rode well in support of Vingegaard as he'll do from Saturday onwards. But Vine's recent results paint a poor picture, with three DNFs in a row and no pre-Vuelta success like he managed in Romandie or at Coppi e Bartali earlier this season.
If Kuss is in his peak shape, which he showed flashes of at the Tour, he will be stronger when the road begins to ramp uphill, but you don't win two Vuelta mountain stages by being a slouch, so expect Vine to be a vital player in the UAE climbing machine.
Victor Campenarts vs Domen Novak
Two great domestiques face off in the next round with Victor Campenaerts vs Domen Novak. They are two riders who everyone will see a lot of during the Vuelta, with countless hours on the front of the peloton, and versatility across a number of terrains.
We saw in July how Campenaerts had changed his focus and abilities to be more of a climbing domestique for Vingegaard, and he'll be hungry to be part of a Grand Tour-winning team after Visma missed out at the Tour.
Novak didn't race the Tour, but has often played an early part in the train of Pogačar, pulling back breakaways and still finding enough to do huge turns when a race reaches its crux moment. It's a job he's very good at but Campenarts perhaps offers even more.
33-year-old Campenaerts guarantees great support on the flat, someone to position you into the base of a climb, and more than enough climbing power to set up a big attack. Not to mention that with the presence of a team time trial in this year's Vuelta, his stock rises even further in comparison to the Slovenian.
Given that Vingegaard and Visma may look to control things for much of the race to set up the Dane, someone like Campenaerts gives them the consistent ability to do so, whereas Novak's diesel engine and ability to control a stage for his leader may not suit the needs of both Ayuso and Almeida.
Wilco Kelderman vs Marc Soler
Wilco Kelderman vs Marc Soler is an interesting match-up between two great climbers in their own right, and with the depth of both Visma and UAE's climbing support for this Vuelta, they could become much earlier links in the chain.
Kelderman has never been much of a winner himself, but he's been a very solid Grand Tour racer over the years, managing six top 10 results between the prestigious three-week races. He's also a more than capable support rider in a GC bid.
This season, he was part of Visma's Giro d'Italia squad that helped guide Simon Yates to the title in Italy. The Dutchman, even at 34, has more than enough climbing power to thin down a group, and that will aid Vingegaard in the fight against UAE.
Soler, a three-time Vuelta stage winner, on his day, can thrive in the irregularity of Spanish climbs and the scorching temperatures, but the thing that could place Kelderman above him as a teammate is consistency.
On any given day, Soler can be seen yo-yoing off the back of the peloton and climbing through groups of dropped riders – not exactly the steady pacing that someone like Almeida will want before a mountain stage kicks off properly.
Soler also already has the Tour in his legs, but he was well away from his usual best in France, so perhaps that is still to come.
It's a close one to call, but Soler in 2025 probably has a higher ceiling than Kelderman, despite the Dutchman's higher likelihood of being consistent.
Dylan van Baarle vs Mikkel Bjerg
With Mikkel Bjerg and Dylan van Baarle come more versatility for their respective super teams, as riders who play key roles in both the Classics and Grand Tours.
If we were simply talking palmarès, then Van Baarle is clearly the more accomplished rider, but they'll both be in domestique roles in Spain, which closes the gap.
Van Baarle is also the much more experienced GT racer – 16 appearances to five – so he has that working in his favour for this matchup. For both Ineos and Visma, he's used his Classics prowess to position leaders, with more than enough punch to navigate the lower slopes of climbs.
But he has struggled to find his rhythm ever since joining Visma in 2023, with crashes and several fractures putting him well away from his previous best and in constant comebacks to form. This Vuelta is also his last Grand Tour with Visma before joining Soudal-QuickStep, so it will be a final chance to leave his mark.
Bjerg is fighting an uphill battle here against the former Paris-Roubaix winner, but he has proved a more than valuable cog in two of UAE's Grand Tour-winning squads since 2020. His work will probably come much earlier in the day, such is the strength of UAE's team, though, so he may not shine as much as he can on the cobbles in spring.
Overall, Van Baarle's history alone probably puts him as the stronger rider in terms of Grand Tour support, but after his dip in form, Bjerg currently isn't too far off the Dutchman. Both will be important in the team time trial.
Ben Tulett vs Felix Großschartner
Young Brit Ben Tulett and Felix Großschartner are at opposite ends of their careers at 23 and 31, respectively, but the Vuelta should see them play a similar role as the punchy climbing support in their line-up.
Großshcartner's longer career naturally means he has a more established palmarès, with 10 Grand Tour appearances to his name already. But Tulett is one of the rising talents at Visma, making this matchup less simple than maybe it first seems.
Form-wise, too, Tulett has probably been the more impressive in 2025, with his Critérium du Dauphiné performance in support of Vingegaard likely showing the Dane just how valuable he could prove.
Tulett finished in the top 10 of the two hardest climbing stages at the Dauphiné, and arrives at the Vuelta fresh off a podium finish at the Tour de l'Ain, with teammate Cian Uijtdebroeks taking the overall victory in France. He'll be hoping to be part of immediate success in the second Grand Tour of his career and first with Visma.
Großschartner, similarly, helped a teammate to victory in his most recent appearance, with Isaac del Toro winning the Tour of Austria with help from the home rider. The Tour de Suisse, before that, saw the Austrian rider do similarly, riding for one of the stars who will be his leader in Spain – Almeida.
It's a close call between the two, and despite Tulett's rising form, Großschartner's experience probably places him above Tulett, narrowly. However, this Vuelta could see Tulett come of age in three-week racing and play a vital role for Vingegaard, though we're yet to see that yet so he remains second best in this matchup, for now.
Axel Zingle vs Ivo Oliveira
The last matchup of Visma and UAE's squads for this year's Vuelta is versatile puncheur Axel Zingle against reliable domestique Ivo Oliveira.
It's both of their third Grand Tours, and although their roles may be similar in August and September, they are quite different riders.
Zingle's pure punch will make him valuable in the plethora of short climb finishes that the Vuelta's route offers up, and he could serve as a strong lead-out for Vingegaard in pursuit of bonus seconds.
The Frenchman is also in strong form, arriving for the start in Italy off the back of a solid performance at the Tour of Denmark, where only a rampant Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) could deny him a stage win on the final day.
It will be his first Grand Tour with Visma, and debut at the Vuelta, but his role will probably be as a domestique in the early phase of several mountain stages; however, his sprint abilities could prove very useful when it comes to positioning and keeping Vingegaard safe.
Oliveira, despite netting four wins in 2025, including a second Portuguese national title, is much more of an established domestique than Zingle, and he'll likely be one of the first riders on the front for the Emirati team on several days.
Individually, it's hard to argue that Zingle isn't the better rider, but when it comes to who will be more important when it comes to support during the Vuelta, Oliveira may edge it as a loyal helper. The team time trial will also give him another chance to shine, so this last matchup is probably UAE's on balance.
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