"We have a clear vision of how we're going to win the Vuelta" - Visma DS confident in Jonas Vingegaard's victory
Cycling
We're counting hours until the official start of the 2025 Vuelta a Espana. And if you think that one name is being mentioned more often than others for the overall victory, it's not just your imagination. Visma | Lease a Bike bring a former winner Sepp Kuss to the race, but their chosen champion is obviously Jonas Vingegaard. After two Tour de France titles, the 28-year-old Dane has a "simple" mission ahead of him for the next three weeks.
"We know how to win Grand Tours, and it's clear that with Jonas and a strong team around him, we're at the starting line to win the Vuelta. That won't be easy, but it's clear that our ambition is to win the race," Grischa Niermann explained the situation at a pre-race press conference to present media including In de Leiderstrui.
"We have a clear vision of how we're going to win the Vuelta, but as usual, I won't reveal the tactics," said the German sports director. "But there are ten mountain finishes, the first on the second day and the last on the penultimate day. So you have to be in shape from start to finish. You'll see which days are crucial for us in the next three weeks."
Vingegaard appears as the absolute favourite to win in absence of Tadej Pogacar. Still, the main challengers could come be the Slovenian's UAE Team Emirates - XRG teammates. But Niermann is not the least bit worried. "We're starting from scratch. Joao Almeida and Juan Ayuso have the qualities to win a Grand Tour, but we believe we're better and can beat them."
Probably far from a key moment for the conclusion of the 2025 edition, the 24-kilometer team time trial on day 5 could nevertheless shuffle the cards a bit after four days of relatively calm racing. With top-tier engines Victor Campenaers, Matteo Jorgenson and Dylan van Baarle in the selection, Vingegaard will definitely aim to gain time on his rivals, rather than defend positions.
"The TTT is a fantastic discipline. We won the TTT in Paris-Nice this year, and it would be great to compete for the win again. However, looking at the start list, I don't immediately see us as the top favorites. And I don't think the differences on this fast and flat course will be too great."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- That's an excellent point. It's interesting that Vader came to that realization only after he learned that his contract wasn't going to be renewed.
santiagobenites14-11-2026 - Indeed! A reluctant gift maybe. Even more reluctant gift from Roglic! Tho I can’t see that Rog would have beaten Ving anyway.Lozza14-11-2026
- That really nasty crash in 2022 Liege must have played a big part - broken ribs, pneumothorax. You only have to look at his points tallies pre and post.Lozza14-11-2026
- Yeah, good luck getting tv and race organisers like ASO etc to part with their cash!Lozza14-11-2026
- 36 and Ineos have bought a rider on the downward slope. Bring back Dave and Rob who could manage the team. How are Ineos going to win a grand tour with people past their sell by date.paultryan200214-11-2026
- Mmmm would he be making these comments when he was on the richest team when riding. I think not i suspect. If we want money put into the sport we need sponsors who are prepared to put the money in. No disrespect but his team are 2nd or 3rd div in football terms with riders over the hill or 2nd string riders. If i was a sponsor i would be looking at what publicity am i getting back and Tudor really are just making up the numbers really.paultryan200214-11-2026
- I see (elsewhere) that Alaphilippe had more to say than what got relayed in this stub. Me: he was very good early but his latter third trajectory was the pits. His old boss did what he could (huffed and puffed) but Julian couldn't get his greatness back. Sometimes I wonder if crashes that didn't look like much changed the course of the rider.flyer14-11-2026
- I wouldn't classify it as a gift because the nasty consequences of taking it from Sepp would have been great and would persist and he knew it.flyer14-11-2026
- Ok. Tratnik's good and Red Bull's better so Tratnik may get what he wants.flyer14-11-2026
- Ok. So just saying he wasn't enjoying racing anymore is some kind of explanation? Me saying I don't enjoy his explanation is more explaining than he did.flyer14-11-2026
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