The Winners and Losers of the 2023 Vuelta a España

The 2023 Vuelta a España wrapped up in Madrid on Sunday with American Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) taking home the red jersey as the winner of the Vuelta’s General Classification. The 29-year-old was joined on the final podium by his two teammates, Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard and Slovenia’s Primož Roglič, both of whom entered the race as pre-race favorites.

One of the top climbers in the sport, Kuss set the foundation for his victory when he won Stage 6 (a summit finish) from a breakaway and finished almost three minutes ahead of the Vuelta’s pre-race GC favorites including his teammates, Slovenia’s Primož Roglič and Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard.

At the time it looked like little more than a tactical move for the squad: after riding the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France, no one gave Kuss a chance to win the Vuelta, but by sending him up the road and positioning him to take the red jersey (which he did a few days later), the team put its rivals on their heels.

But little did Jumbo-Visma know that Kuss would defend his jersey during Stage 10’s individual time trial, forcing the team to choose between sacrificing the chances of its best domestique–and one of the sport’s most popular riders–for the sake of Roglič and Vingegaard’s own aspirations.

Luckily everyone played nice during the rest of the Vuelta’s second week, using their strength in numbers to systematically eliminate anyone within sight of the podium. The week ended with Kuss still in red.

But the third week opened with shots fired–this time by Roglič and Vingegaard–who seemed uncomfortable letting the American ride away with a victory that they assumed would be one of theirs for the taking. It all came to a head on Stage 17, which finished atop the Altu de l’Angliru, one of the hardest climbs in professional cycling.

With seemingly no regard for the fact that their teammate was leading the race overall, Roglič and Vingegaard rode away from Kuss near the summit of the climb, with Roglič taking the stage win and Vingegaard climbing to within just 8 seconds of Kuss’s lead.

With another summit finish looming the next day, the Dane (winner of the last two Tours de France) looked poised to take the jersey from Kuss—despite the fact that Kuss had been riding well and looked more than capable of defending his lead—as long as his teammates didn’t stage a mutiny.

A team meeting that night allegedly set things straight, and Roglič and Vingegaard rode for Kuss the next day, guiding him throughout the stage and protecting his lead. (Kuss even gained a few more seconds after Vingegaard sat up near the stage finish.) With only one more tough stage left in the race, it appeared as if Kuss would no longer need to worry about losing the jersey. And he didn’t.

Despite the win, expect nothing to change for Kuss–or his role within the team. This squad still belongs to Roglič (unless the rumors of his transfer come to pass) and Vingegaard (who seemed to be more concerned with not losing the race to Roglič than with defeating Kuss). The only rider to have been on the roster for each of Jumbo’s seven grand tour victories, Kuss remains one of the sport’s best domestiques–and now he has a grand tour victory of his own.

Here’s a look at some other winners (and losers) from the season’s final grand tour:

Winners

Jumbo-Visma

Jumbo-Visma came to the Vuelta hoping to become the first team in history to win all three grand tours in a single season, and they did in the most dominant way possible: by becoming the first team to sweep a grand tour podium as well. And just for good measure: they won five stages along the way.

The results couldn’t have come at amore perfect time: the squad is looking for a new title sponsor. But they didn’t make any friends along the way and their results left some wondering if their performance was too good to be true. But more on that in a minute…

Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

After taking his first grand tour stage victory with Team BikeExchange-Jayco in last year’s Vuelta, Australia’s Kaden Groves moved to Alpecin-Deceuninck during the off-season with the hope of having more freedom and more support.

Well, after scoring three stage victories and the green jersey as the winner of the Vuelta’s Points Classification, Groves has to be feeling pretty good about the move. And he’s still just 24!

While it’s unlikely that Groves will ride the Tour de France any time soon–after all his team is also home to Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen (who won four stages and the green jersey at the Tour de France this past July)–he should have free reign at the Giro and the Vuelta–and will be waiting in the wings should the team ever need him in July.

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step)

The defending champion, Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel came back to the Vuelta looking to defend his title before heading into the off-season to begin his preparations for next year’s Tour de France.

But things went pear-shaped on Stage 14, a short, intense Pyrenean raid during which the 23-year-old lost 27 minutes after getting dropped on the Col d’Aubisque during the first half of the stage–a bad sign considering the fact that the stage had a rather Tour de France feel to it.

But Evenepoel rebounded quickly to win two more stages (he won Stage 3 during the first week) and the polka dot jersey as the Vuelta’s King of the Mountain’s competition. It was a stunning performance, one that reminded us all why Evenepoel is still considered to be one of the most talented riders in the sport.

We’re still wondering if he’s a true grand tour contender (we think he’d find more success targeting shorter stage races and single-day Classics). But that’s not our problem to solve, especially since he’s just as exciting in defeat as he is in victory.

Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates)

Spain’s Juan Ayuso failed to improve upon his third-place in last year’s Vuelta, but given the competition, can we blame him? In finishing “only” fourth overall and winning the white jersey as the race’s Best Young Rider, Ayuso reinforced his status as one of the sport’s most talented young grand tour riders and someone capable of ending his nation’s grand tour drought.

It’s scary to imagine what it would look like if UAE sent Ayuso and Portugal’s Joao Almeida (who finished third at the Giro) to the Tour de France alongside Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar and Great Britain’s Adam Yates. But considering Jumbo-Visma’s performance, they might have to.

Losers

American Cycling

An American has just won the nation its first grand tour since 2013, but outside of the sport itself, you wouldn’t know it. We get it (sorta): Coach Prime is doing Coach Prime things, the NFL is just getting underway, and October baseball is coming soon.

But we still can’t help but feel that Kuss’s victory deserves more mainstream publicity than it’s received. We remain optimistic that at least a few folks have been inspired to pull their dusty bikes out of the garage to get in a few late-summer rides or that a handful of kids are now dreaming of becoming the next Eagle of Durango. But this feels like a missed opportunity that could have helped the sport grow at a time when it sorely needs it.

Jumbo-Visma

Jumbo-Visma won its third grand tour season and swept the podium in the process–two never-before-seen accomplishments–but other than Kuss they certainly didn’t leave us with a warm fuzzy feeling. They dodged a bullet by getting their act together to support Kuss, but in doing so they may have created rifts inside the team that could be too large to heal. And now they have to face the fall-out.

Roglič and Vingegaard have had a tenuous relationship (at best) since Vingegaard won last year’s Tour de France after Roglič crashed and separated his shoulder during the first week. The team wisely kept their programs separate this year, sending Roglič to the Giro (which he won) and Vingegaard to the Tour (which he won).

But bringing them both to the Vuelta almost blew up in their faces (and still low-key did). Rumors are now swirling that Roglič is looking for a new team, which would be a big blow to the squad–even if it would clear things up at the top of its GC hierarchy.

And the trouble doesn’t stop there: in dominating the Vuelta, questions are again starting to circulate as to how the team is able to achieve such success. Some think the team puts motors in their bikes, others wonder if they’ve found some new and yet-to-be identified performance-enhancing drug.

The riders remain steadfast in their innocence, and we have no evidence-based reason to doubt them. But it’s clear the squad has shed its status as the team everyone likes to root for. They’re now the team everyone wants to beat.

INEOS Grenadiers

The team that everyone loved to hate used to be the INEOS Grenadiers, a squad that some joked were like the evil empire of professional cycling (for a while their team buses and trucks actually looked like something designed by the engineers of the Death Star). But oh how far the mighty have fallen!

The team came to the Vuelta hoping for a high GC finish from either Welshman Geraint Thomas or Dutchman Thymen Arensman. But crashes ruined their chances during the first week, with Arensman actually abandoning the race near the end of Stage 7 after a nasty fall. Thomas did his best to win a stage, joining the breakaway more than once but coming up short each time. He ended the race as the team’s best GC finisher: 31st overall, almost an hour and 48 minutes down on Kuss.

Italy’s Filippo Ganna was the lone bright spot. The Italian won Stage 10’s ITT and finished second in three field sprints, but that’s a far cry from the kind of results this team used to expect in a grand tour.

They head into the off-season with some serious question marks, and if they don’t somehow pull a Evenepoel- or Roglič-shaped rabbit out of a hat (both riders are rumored to have been courted by the team), they could find themselves in even worse shape next season.

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