Larry Warbasse is looking forward to be back at Vuelta after seven years: "It should be interesting"

Larry Warbasse is currently riding the Tour de Pologne as his first stage race since the Giro d’Italia this May and the key warm-up race for August 26th’s start in Barcelona. And as he told Cyclingnews, the 33-year-old has already checked out the key climbs in the toughest stage of the first week of the Vuelta when he was training at altitude in Andorra.

"I don’t think the last climb is long enough for a huge sort out, maybe 12 to 15 minutes or something," Warbasse said. "So you’ll see some separation in the main group, but it’s not going to be crazy. It’s not crazy hard, not like some of the Andorra stages have been in the Vuelta in the past. But you could maybe see a breakaway win. It should be interesting."

Warbasse would certainly be at an advantage, given his local knowledge, if he were to get in on a move on stage 3 of the Vuelta. Meanwhile, looking at the long-term, the American, currently in a contract year, is far from downcast about his prospects of staying in top-level racing in 2024. As Warbasse put it himself: "I don’t have any news yet, but it should be good for next year. I should be still in the World Tour."

Larry Warbasse has been riding for AG2R Citroën since 2019 and during his time in the French team has completed Giro d'Italia four times, with 17th overall from 2020 being one of the highlights. Warbasse's goal for 2023 Vuelta will be a breakaway success however.