Vuelta a Espana director on Remco Evenepoel: "The logical thing is that he comes"

Javier Guillén, the director of the Vuelta a España, has given an interview to the As newspaper in which he talks about the Spanish round that will take place between August 26 and September 17 and for which Juan Ayuso, Primoz Roglic and Geraint Thomas are confirmed. He expects Remco Evenepoel to be there as well.

Precisely on this assumption, on the possible arrival of Remco to the Vuelta, Guillén commented that he is aware that it is a team decision, but explains a number of factors that make it normal for him that the Belgian will go to the Grand Departure of Barcelona to try to defend his red jersey.

"There is an argument that I like: he is the current champion of the Vuelta and I love that the winner comes to defend his title. Of course, we're going to respect his decision because there's no other choice and because the anger, if he doesn't come, is more out of affection than anything else. But the way he's been riding this season, it makes sense for him to come to the Vuelta, but the only ones who can apply that logic are him and the team".

He hopes that a Spaniard will race for the win and bets on a duel between Juan Ayuso and Primoz Roglic or Geraint Thomas to provide a spectacle and increase the interest in cycling in Spain. "This year, for example, I would really like to see a game between Spanish and foreigners, and here obviously the mention goes to Juan Ayuso. We think Carlos Rodriguez won't do the Vuelta after the Tour, so hopefully he'll do a great Tour like he's doing and finish as high as possible."

"For us to have that race between Roglic and Ayuso, between Thomas and Ayuso, for the Spanish fans, I think it gives a lot of race. Besides, Ayuso is a spectacular rider, daring, who likes the mountains a lot and who goes on the attack. From there, we'll see who joins us, because the roster will grow.

The two big stages of the Vuelta a España 2023 will have two big mountain passes as protagonists: Tourmalet and Angliru. Guillén talks about both and explains what he expects from each of them (thinking that the overall will not be decided until the final stages in the Sierra de Madrid).

"The Tourmalet is a pass where you can make a lot of differences, because it invites those who are good to leave those who are not so good far behind. The Angliru is a mountain pass more to sustain, more to hold on to the bike, but it's also true that if you get caught on a bad day.... Although the speeds don't suggest that there are many differences, so we'll have to see. The accumulated fatigue in the Angliru compared to the Tourmalet is much greater, but the mountain stages are not over, the next day is the Cruz de Linares and then there's the Madrid stage, so I hope we have a great show in the Tourmalet, but not even in the Angliru everything is decided".

He hopes, unsurprisingly, that both Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar can make it to the Spanish race some year: "It's an unknown. Vingegaard has started the Tour in his head as his only big one and Pogacar would make us very excited if he came as well as the Danish rider. However, Pogacar already said he was coming last year, then he didn't win the Tour and in the end he didn't come either."

"So, this year we have told [Joxean] Matxin not to tell us if he's coming or not, so we'll be surprised," Guillén jokes. "What is being demonstrated is that these people have so much class and, above all, so much desire to win, that they all want to have the three grands in their palmarès and therefore, some year we will see Vingegaard and Pogacar not only in the Vuelta, but also in the Giro. They are hungry and hungry for titles."