Winners and losers of the Vuelta a España 2023: From Kuss's triumph to Roglic's possible distancing from Jumbo
Cycling
Today the Vuelta a Espana 2023 finished in Madrid with Sepp Kuss winning the general classification and Jumbo-Visma taking all the podium places. In this article we want to give our opinion on what we consider to have been the winners and losers of the Spanish race in 2023.
WINNERS
Sepp Kuss
There is no doubt that the man of the Vuelta 2023 is Sepp Kuss who, after killing himself in the Giro and the Tour to help Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard to win, knew how to filter at the start of the Spanish race in a breakaway that eventually gave him the red in Madrid. Brutal performance and class, both on and off the road.
Jumbo-Visma
Beyond 'tinkering' with its riders and forcing to win as many stages as possible, Jumbo-Visma closes the debate (if there ever was one) of which is the best cycling team at the moment. And by far. Winning the Vuelta topping the podium and with five stages after winning the Giro and Tour is very scary for what can be expected in the coming years.
Jonas Vingegaaard
It has become clear that he is the sole leader of Jumbo-Visma. Despite the fact that Primoz Roglic was looking to equal Roberto Heras' all-time record of 4 Vueltas a España, they included him in the call. Then, they let him attack until he was 8 seconds behind Kuss purely by chance, but without Landa's push on the Angliru the Dane could have perfectly well come out with the red jersey.
LOSERS
Primoz Roglic
Obviously he is not a loser because of his performance, which was brilliant. In my opinion he was the strongest rider in the Vuelta and if he hadn't been in the same team as Kuss and Vingegaard he would have won it. And that's where the drama comes in. The team didn't play with him the card of being the one who had to win yes or yes from the start. He opened the doors even though he could match Heras and that leaves him in a complicated position for the next few grand tours. He knows that when Vingo is in a race he will not have it easy and, considering that he is already 33 years old, if he wants to win the Tour he will have to change of scenery. Bittersweet taste for him.
Juan Ayuso
We expected him to make another leap in his career, but he showed a level very similar to that of 2022, in which he would also have finished fourth but for the abandonment of Primoz Roglic. He wasn't bad, but we didn't see him evolve and I think he talked too much announcing attacks that didn't happen. He didn't disappoint, but he didn't excite either.
Enric Mas
The 2 times second in the last two Vueltas and was only able to finish sixth. He has not been able to overcome neither the Jumbos nor Ayuso and Mikel Landa, who are not at all brilliant. Year after year we don't see him evolve, we don't see him getting better in the mountains and even less in time trials. He must work very hard if he wants to retire with a big one in his pocket. Complete disappointment.
Juan LarraCycling Journalist
Juan Larra is a writer for Cyclinguptodate and editor-in-chief of Ciclismoaldia, where he has played a central role since its inception. Under his leadership, the website has become a trusted source for professional cycling coverage, offering in-depth analysis, news, and feature stories.
A sports journalist with over 20 years of experience, Juan earned his degree in Journalism from the University of Seville in 2007. He began his career covering a wide range of sports—including football, basketball, Formula 1, MotoGP, tennis, and cycling—for platforms such as the official La Liga app, Vodafone and Movistar websites, NBA Blogdebasket, and Cadena Cope, honing his skills in writing and editorial management.
In addition to his work at Ciclismoaldia, Juan contributes to Cyclinguptodate and serves as editor-in-chief for the tennis-focused site Tenisaldia. Throughout his career, he has conducted exclusive interviews with cyclists and sports figures, provided detailed analysis of competitions ranging from local Spanish races to major international events, and acted as a special correspondent at prestigious races including Paris-Roubaix, the Tour de France, and the Vuelta a España.
Juan’s combination of experience, expertise, and direct access to athletes has established him—and the platforms he leads—as authoritative voices in professional cycling.
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- On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
- "was a headliner at the Tour de France" Nobody cared about Piddie. Only rivals that were there for Pogi, Jonas, Remco, Sexias, Lipo, Del Toro and they were all expected to lose. Piddie was not even in any conversation.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
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🤯 La temporada del equipo Jumbo en las Grandes Vueltas de 2023 pasará a la historia del ciclismo: 🏆 Giro de Italia ➜ Primoz Roglic 🏆 Tour de Francia ➜ Jonas Vingegaard 🏆 Vuelta a España ➜ Sepp Kuss
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