Vuelta a Espana 2023: Geraint Thomas up against Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel

Geraint Thomas won the Tour de France successful 2018

Britain's Geraint Thomas promised helium is acceptable "to commit" astatine the "very end" of his vocation successful 1 of the toughest Vuelta a Espana races for years.

"It's casual to perpetrate astatine precise extremity of my career," said Thomas. "Might arsenic good spot what I tin do."

The Vuelta gets nether mode connected Saturday with a squad clip proceedings successful Barcelona.

Thomas, the 2018 Tour de France winner, added that clip distant from his household was hard but that nary determination had yet been made connected his aboriginal and a declaration for 2024.

"Hopefully soon [something volition beryllium decided]," said Thomas earlier the race. "There's been clip distant from home; a batch of grooming camps these days astatine altitude has benignant of replaced being astatine home. It's hard to beryllium acold distant from family; I person a young lad and wife.

"That's tough, but it's 1 of those things. Plenty of clip successful my adjacent beingness to chill and portion cocktails and look aft [son] Max."

Belgian prima Remco Evenepoel took the wide winner's reddish jersey past year

A line-up similar nary different for 'El Clasico'

This Vuelta - dubbed by immoderate successful cycling arsenic 'El Clasico' due to the fact that it begins successful Barcelona and ends successful Madrid 3 weeks aboriginal - has a line-up of endowment which mirrors the 'galacticos' of Spanish football's 2 astir celebrated clubs.

The three-week contention runs for 3,154km crossed 21 stages, done 396 cities, towns oregon villages, and done mountainous territories, specified arsenic the Pyrenees, taking successful the famously taxing Col du Tourmalet climb.

Roglic returns for a contention helium has won 3 times, on with this year's Tour de France winning team-mate Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark and Belgian sensation Remco Evenepoel of Soudal-Quick Step.

Roglic beat Thomas successful the Giro by conscionable 14 seconds pursuing a penultimate signifier clip proceedings successful which his motorcycle concatenation fell off. That did not forestall the 33-year-old inactive overhauling a 26-second pb held by Thomas, who had the held the pinkish jersey for astir of the race.

The lone rider considered among the world's champion erstwhile it comes to the sport's Grand Tours who is missing from an unusually beardown line-up for the Vuelta is Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates. Spain's Juan Ayuso and Portugal's Joao Almeida volition alternatively situation for wide triumph for the UAE team.

Pogacar looked exhausted astatine this month's UCI Cycling World Championships pursuing a play successful which helium was sensational successful spring, beating Vingegaard hands down astatine the eight-day Paris-Nice race.

But the 24-year-old was comprehensively beaten by an wide borderline of 7 minutes 29 seconds by Vingegaard erstwhile it came to July's Tour, arsenic the Dane stepped up to different level successful show connected the climbs and the clip trials.

The 26-year-old Vingegaard is looking to adhd different Grand Tour triumph to his memorable season, successful which helium has yet wrestled the 'world's best' tag from Pogacar - the brace some present having 2 Tour titles connected each of their palmares.

If his signifier remains the aforesaid past Vingegaard should beryllium favourite for the Vuelta, but the chartless quantity is Evenepoel.

The 23-year-old was dominating the Giro until helium was forced to retreat due to the fact that of a Covid - adjacent triumphing successful the mid-race clip proceedings contempt suffering with symptoms.

Evenepoel went connected to go time proceedings satellite champion successful Glasgow astatine the Worlds, and comes into this contention arsenic galore people's favourite, adjacent if immoderate momentarily forgot helium won the Vuelta past year.

"He's evidently a ace beardown rider," said Thomas. "The favourite tag for the contention falls connected to [Quick Step] a spot arsenic good arsenic Jumbo.

"He's a phenomenal talent, but much suited to one-day large efforts… I'm not saying he's atrocious astatine Grand Tours - successful fact, helium won present past twelvemonth didn't he.

"He's going to beryllium ace beardown - I saw successful the TT astatine the Worlds recently. There's galore guys who tin triumph - he's surely 1 of the strongest."

All of which leaves Thomas and chap Ineos team-mate Egan Bernal considered to beryllium warring for podium places astatine best.

Bernal is inactive recovering from a life-threatening grooming clang successful 2022 and recovered the Tour de France pugnacious going this twelvemonth wrong the discourse of his erstwhile precocious standards.

The 26-year-old volition beryllium looking to rediscover the signifier which took him to Tour glory successful 2019 and Giro triumph successful 2021.

And could Ineos themselves beryllium looking to rediscover their winning signifier by making changes?

Three apical riders person near the squad recently, including Britain's 2020 Giro victor Tao Geoghegan Hart, fuelling speculation changes could beryllium being made to motion a high-profile rider - galore judge it could beryllium Evenepoel.

This is, however, acold from an evident choice, fixed his ain Belgian Quick Step squad are making changes which look to enactment Evenepoel for the agelong term.

Evenepoel's show successful Spain could find a aboriginal successful which the erstwhile footballer volition beryllium successful adjacent higher request than ever before.

Thousands turned retired successful Copenhagen to invited Jonas Vingegaard aft his Tour de France triumph this year

Is Cavendish involved?

One constituent successful shorter proviso than accustomed successful the contention is the magnitude of stages for the sprinters. There are flatter roads during the race, but not capable to pull the world's champion accelerated men - including 38-year-old Mark Cavendish.

After the heartbreak of leaving his last Tour de France injured and not managing to bushed the Tour grounds of 34 signifier victories helium shares with Belgian fable Eddy Merckx, Cavendish is said to inactive beryllium "thinking about" 1 past tilt astatine the Tour successful 2024 pursuing an connection from his Astana Qazaqstan team.

But determination are immoderate British riders who could marque an impression.

Hugh Carthy of EF Education-EasyPost has not yet returned to the signifier which took him to 3rd successful this contention successful 2020, wherever helium won brilliantly connected the Angliru ascent - an ascent this contention revisits connected signifier 17.

Other prospects see Lewis Askey, 22, of the French Groupama-FDJ team, who could triumph connected immoderate of the much undulating, hilly stages alongside team-mate Samuel Watson, 21.

And there's Sean Flynn of the Dutch DSM-Firmenich team, who besides person 20-year-old Britons Oscar Onley and Max Poole successful their squad for what is the 78th moving of this race.