The Vuelta a Espana will have it's three-time defending champion Primoz Roglic at the startline looking to defend his title, but many don't believe that will be the case, with former pro rider Jens Voigt being one of them.
"Primoz wouldn't start at the Vuelta a Espana if he had won the Tour de France first. But that hasn't worked out for him yet," Voigt told Eurosport. "Sometimes a crash intervened, sometimes he came in a close second. If it goes well, he will be third. In other words: From my point of view, Roglic won't win another Grand Tour in his career".
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Roglic will start the Vuelta as the leader of Jumbo-Visma, supported by the likes of Sepp Kuss in the mountains, Edoardo Afinni and Mike Teunissen in the flat treacherous days. His form is unknown, seeing as he as yet to return to competition since his abandon at the Tour de France, but he has several times in the past had strong form upon return. Two dislocated vertebrae were not simple injuries to recover from however. "For my taste, he crashes once too often. Roglic's crash rate is very high, too high," Voigt justified.
"In addition, the accidents were sometimes bad, hurt and he lost a lot of skin in the process. Last year he lost Paris-Nice on the final stage because he crashed twice. He has already had to abandon the Tour de France twice because of crashes, and in 2020 he gave it away on the penultimate day in the mountain time trial," he added. The nature of the Vuelta - with more hard and mountainous stages in the opening week - leads to less stressful racing to that that has seen him crash at the Tour, however it will nevertheless be a big challenge for the Slovenian.
"When he triumphed in the Criterium du Dauphine this season, he was no stronger than his best aide Jonas Vingegaard. I still believe Roglic is capable of winning stages, a mountains jersey or top-five finishes in the Giro, Tour and Vuelta - but he is no longer a contender for the victory," the German commentator concluded.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- He lives in Monaco
Rafionain-Glas03-11-2026 - It's also highly significant for Lorenzo Finn as he won there last year. Also Mateo Ramírez and Henrique Bravo if they goRafionain-Glas03-11-2026
- This is a phenomenal course design. I do wish that they'd stretch these tours for the women to at least 2 weeks.RidesHills03-11-2026
- This is an amazing route, honestly. Let's hope that it attracts riders to make it a compelling and competitive race. Side bar amusement: going to Slovenia and passing pretty close to Pogačar's house. I wonder if they were tempting him to get all 3 jerseys at once after winning the Tour and Vuelta. After all, only a very few have ever had all three at the same time (Froome being the last).RidesHills03-11-2026
- He was a child two years agoRafionain-Glas03-11-2026
- A great route aswell. Col d'Arpy is a toughieRafionain-Glas03-11-2026
- Let Torito have a shot at itRafionain-Glas03-11-2026
- A great route, much more exciting than the Tour de France. Monte Livata is an interesting one, because they experimented with it at the 2026 Baby Giro, and it was fantastic. 4 km at 10%, then 10 km at 6.5% made for a great spectacle. The stage 16 is horrible. Montaner is also used in the U23s, in Giro del BelvedereRafionain-Glas03-11-2026
- I remember when Mark went through that. He was really experiencing lows and thought about quiting many times. It took him a long time to recover. I, like many others were overjoyed when he came back. I hope Lafay has been tested. I wish him the best.Paggss03-11-2026
- That sucks for him. I've always wondered what guys like him do after retiring from cycling - go back to uni? He's still a very young manCrashjames03-11-2026
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Grand tour #𝟑 🇳🇱 ⇢ 🇪🇸 #LaVuelta22
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