Remco Evenepoel, the defending champion of La Vuelta, has changed his race programme in order to defend his title, and at the very start of the 2023 season it was not expressly planned that Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal would be at the official start in Barcelona either, unlike Richard Carapaz who was due to go there after the Tour de France. Faced with the Jumbo-Visma duo of Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard, for whom everything went as they wished at the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, four other Grand Tour winners are preparing for La Vuelta.
There were eight of them in Utrecht last year: already Roglic and Carapaz, Jai Hindley, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Simon Yates, Vincenzo Nibali, Alejandro Valverde and Chris Froome, but the last three had excluded themselves from the list of favourites, as they were rather in the twilight of their careers, even if the Briton wasn’t within two months of his sporting retirement like the Italian and the Spaniard.
Evenepoel’s career plan was all mapped out: La Vuelta 22, Giro d’Italia 2023, Tour de France 2024 (with a Monaco-Nice time trial as a conclusion, on the Belgian national day). This fine schedule was disrupted by a Covid-19 infection halfway through the Giro, when he had just reclaimed the pink jersey thanks to a narrower-than-usual time trial victory.

Less than a week after his withdrawal, Patrick Lefévère ruled out the possibility of taking part in another Grand Tour this year, due to a lack of time to prepare for the Tour de France and because “nobody would accept any result from him other than the final victory in La Vuelta because he’s already won it”, argued the manager of Soudal-Quick Step, who has since changed his mind under pressure from his protégé, who on 10 July told his fans: “See you in Barcelona”. “When I see the level at which he has returned and the desire he shows, I can only grant his request,” explained the Belgian. “Remco wants to take on big challenges.” And he lives in Spain now, in the Community of Valencia.

The cycling calendar meant that he was the world champion just over ten months instead of twelve, between his triumph in Australia, after La Vuelta 22, and his twenty-fifth place in Scotland on a circuit hardly suited to him, following his third title in the San Sebastian Classic. Unless he takes a distinctive jersey at the end of the inaugural team time trial, he will wear the Belgian champion’s jersey for Elite road racing for the first time at the start of stage 2 in Mataró on August 27.

Like Evenepoel, Thomas had the Giro as his main objective for 2023 after having occupied every podium place in the Tour de France: first in 2018, second in 2019, third in 2022. In the time trial on the eve of the grand finale in Rome, he cruelly lost the pink jersey he had been wearing since Remco’s withdrawal, with the exception of a two-day interlude by Bruno Armirail, to Primoz Roglic by just fourteen seconds. After speculating about a rematch at the La Vuelta two days after the Giro, the Welshman made his participation official on 22 June, in the Watts Occurring podcast that he hosts with team-mate Luke Rowe.
His one and only appearance in the Spanish three-week race was not a memorable one, given that he has eighteen Grand Tours to his name. That was in 2015. As he did then in the Tour de France at the time, he had to ride at the service of Chris Froome, who suffered a fractured foot mid-race in Andorra, but he didn’t find any space to express himself after that, with his best place being twelfth in the Burgos time trial, 2’28’’ behind Tom Dumoulin (and 69th in the final overall classification).
Aged 37, Thomas knows his time is running out and if he returns to La Vuelta, it’s with the feeling that he hasn’t yet explored all the possibilities professional cycling has on offer. He has geared up seriously, both at altitude and at the Tour of Poland (third in the time trial held as a test before the world championship).
Geraint Thomas hasn’t raced a Grand Tour with Egan Bernal since the 2019 Tour de France, where they finished second and first respectively. The year before, when he joined Team Sky, the Colombian was possibly due to make his three-week race debut at La Vuelta 18, as was only logical in the promising career of a climber from the Andes mountain range, but after his victory in the Tour of California in May, the British team, fearing a shortage of mountain power while Chris Froome was struggling at the Giro, which he ended up winning, selected him for the Tour de France. And he proved invaluable to Thomas!

Since then, the prodigy from Zipaquirá has won the 2021 Giro, from which he hadn’t fully recovered when he took part in La Vuelta 21 two and a half months later: sixth overall, still 13’27’’ down on Roglic, and his best stage finish was fourth on the Alto del Gamoniteiru. He even lost the white jersey of best young rider at the very end, overtaken by the late Gino Mäder. He is still in the process of rebuilding his body and his shape after his terrible accident in January 2022. After finishing 36th in the recent Tour de France, he concluded positively: “The race pace I picked would have been impossible to reach in training.” As a result, he declared himself highly motivated for a return to La Vuelta, while remaining cautious about his performance targets.
Of the six Grand Tour winners who have expressed their intention to take part in La Vuelta 23, Richard Carapaz is the only one, along with Roglic, to have already been on the podium in all three: winner of the Giro in 2019 and second in 2022, second in La Vuelta 20 and third in the Tour de France 2021. Last year, after a tricky start to the Spanish race, he shifted his ambitions to stage wins (three) and inherited the blue polka-dot jersey after Jay Vine crashed.
As soon as he joined the EF Education-EasyPost team last winter, he scheduled two Grand Tours. La Vuelta remains his only chance of doing one and finishing on a Grand Tour podium for the fifth year in a row, as he crashed on stage 1 of the Tour de France at the same time as Enric Mas on the descent of El Vivero in Bilbao. He returned to Ecuador to treat a small fracture in his kneecap. His entire 2023 season will be decided from Barcelona to Madrid.

The organizers of La Vuelta have chosen the teams that will take part in the 78th edition of the Spanish Grand Tour. La Vuelta 23 will start on Saturday the 26th of August and finish on Sunday the 17th of September.
In accordance with UCI rules, the following 18 UCI WorldTeams are automatically invited to the race:

• AG2R Citroen Team (FRA)
• Alpecin-Deceuninck (BEL)
• Astana Qazaqstan Team (KAZ)
• Bahrain Victorious (BRN)
• Bora – Hansgrohe (GER)
• Cofidis (FRA)
• EF Education – Easypost (USA)
• Groupama – FDJ (FRA)
• Ineos Grenadiers (GBR)
• Intermarché – Circus – Wanty (BEL)
• Jumbo-Visma (NED)
• Movistar Team (ESP)
• Soudal Quick-Step (BEL)
• Team Arkea – Samsic (FRA)
• Team DSM (NED)
• Team Jayco Alula (AUS)
• Trek – Segafredo (USA)
• UAE Team Emirates (UAE)

Furthermore, Lotto Dstny (BEL) and TotalEnergies (FRA), leaders in the 2022 classification of UCI ProTeams will take part by right in La Vuelta 23.
In addition to these 20 teams, the organizers have awarded the following wildcards:

• Burgos-BH (ESP)
• Caja Rural-SegurosRGA (ESP)

• The 78th edition of the race will depart from the Barcelona’s Olympic Port on the 26th of August and Mataró will host the departure of the second stage.
• Besides hosting the Official Departure, Barcelona will also provide the setting for the race’s official promotional video and for the team presentation.
• During that time, the city will be the global cycling epicentre, which will increase its international exposure, thus earning it an international reputation as a global sports capital.

Unipublic and the Barcelona City Council have revealed the route of the two first stages of La Vuelta 23. The event, presented by RTVE’s journalist Carlos de Andrés, featured the attendance of Jaume Collboni, the Deputy Mayor of Barcelona; David Escudé, Sports Councillor for the Barcelona City Council; David Bote, Mayor of Mataró; ex cyclists Roberto Heras, Joaquín ‘Purito’ Rodríguez and Melcior Mauri, Fernando Escartín, technical director of La Vuelta and Javier Guillén, General Director of La Vuelta.
La Vuelta 23 will take off from Barcelona on the 26th of August. It will be the second time in the race’s history that Catalonia’s capital hosts an Official Departure, having already done so back in 1962. The city will host one departure and two arrivals during its two first stages, namely: a team time trial and a mid-mountain stage. Mataró will host the departure of the second stage.
Jaume Collboni, the city’s Deputy Mayor, points out that: “Barcelona is a city that loves sports, particularly cycling. To have La Vuelta return to Barcelona after 60 years is wonderful news, not only because it gives us the chance to experience an important sporting event, but because it proves to us, once again, what a driving force sports truly is to our city’s economy. La Vuelta 23 will be an opportunity for us to showcase our city’s cultural, social and artistic wealth. We want people to leave their homes and come and join us in this cycling celebration, and to participate in the passion and spirit of this great sporting event.”
David Escudé, Sports Councillor, states that: “La Vuelta’s arrival in the city of Barcelona will offer all our residents the opportunity to be part of an elite cycling competition. The recovery of such an emblematic route, which includes Montjuic, is an opportunity to watch the best teams cover a distance of 14 kilometres right through the city centre, which is a truly unique, spectacular opportunity. This sporting scene will feature one of the world’s best backdrops: our city streets.”

STAGE 1 | BARCELONA > BARCELONA | 14.6 KM
The first stage of La Vuelta 23 will take off on Saturday afternoon, and will consist of a team time trial through the streets of Barcelona. This 14-kilometre route will leave from the area surrounding the Olympic Port and will showcase some of the city’s most emblematic locations through a quick, technical circuit that will mark small differences among the teams of the aspiring general classification leaders.
Departure: Playa del Somorrostro

Route: Calle de la Marina , Plaza dels Voluntaris Olímpics (Besòs side), Calle de la Marina, Calle de Ramon Turró, Calle de Sardenya (in the opposite direction), Calle de Pujades (in the opposite direction), Paseo de Pujades (road closest to the sea, in the opposite direction), Paseo Lluís Companys (road on the Besós side), Paseo de Sant Joan (road on the Besós side), Calle de Casp, Calle de Lepant, Calle de Sancho d’Àvila, Calle de Badajoz, Avenida Diagonal, Calle de Cristòfol de Moura, Calle de Bac de Roda, Calle d’Aragó, Calle de Lepant (in the opposite direction), Calle de Mallorca, Avenida Diagonal (central road), Calle Roselló (in the opposite direction), Paseo de Gràcia, Calle d’Aragó, Calle Tarragona, Plaza d’Espanya (on the Llobregat side with lane separations).
Arrival: Avenida de la Reina Maria Cristina.

STAGE 2 | MATARÓ > BARCELONA | 181.3 KM
The second stage of the 2023 edition will take off from Mataró and conclude in Barcelona, at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium. The 181.3 km route will feature two climbs: Coll de Sant Bartomeu (3rd category) and Coll d’Estenalles (2nd category). The race will also cross Villanova del Vallés, the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit, as it passes through Montmeló, Sabadell, Manresa, Castellbell and Vilar, Molins de Rei and L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, among other localities. The emblematic Montjuic climb will determine the stage winner.
Route through Barcelona: Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, Plaza d’Espanya, Avenida de la Reina Maria Cristina, Avenida de Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia, Calle el Polvorí, Túnel de la Foixarda, Camino de la Foixarda, Calle de la Foixarda, Avenida dels Montanyans, Calle Mirador del Palau Nacional, Paseo de Santa Madrona, Avenida Miramar, Calle de Torreforta, Carretera de Montjuïc, Calle del Castell, Paseo del Migdia, Calle del Foc, Calle Jocs del 92 (separated), Avenida de l’Estadi.

MEDIA IMPACT
During that time, the city will be the global cycling epicentre, which will increase its international exposure, thus earning it an international reputation as a global sports capital. Each year, La Vuelta broadcasts live on 18 stations (RTVE and Eurosport are the official Spanish stations) and is present in 190 countries. Over 1,000 journalists, from 28 nationalities and 298 media outlets, were present to cover the race’s previous edition.
Javier Guillén, the General Director of La Vuelta, stated that “the race’s Official Departure will be just one of the many moments in which Barcelona will take centre stage throughout the year. The city will also be the setting of other important events related to La Vuelta, starting with the official route presentation, that will take place in the Palau de la Música Catalana on the 10th of January. There, we will discover all the details of the 21 stages that make up this edition.” Likewise, the streets of Barcelona will also provide the setting for the race’s official promotional video – a video that will be shown on the various RTVE channels, coinciding with the start of the Tour de France 2023. Also, just a few days before the start of La Vuelta, Barcelona will host the Team Presentation.
During its 21 states and for around a week before the race officially begins, the event mobilises a travelling caravan of almost 3,000 people, which includes the organisation staff, the riders, the team personnel and journalists, among others.

LA VUELTA AND BARCELONA, BIKING TOGETHER
La Vuelta and Barcelona bike together for sustainability. Cycling is a sport that is very closely linked to the environment. For this reason, La Vuelta continues to implement and improve measures to reduce its environmental impact upon the natural areas through which it passes. Bicycles are very important to Barcelona – one of the cities where they are most-commonly used as a means of transport. Its green areas invite you to discover the city on two wheels through its many bike lanes. La Ronda Verde is a circuit that acts as a cycling vertebral axis consisting of 70 kilometres of bike lanes that connect Barcelona’s metropolitan area and extend through such natural areas as the Barcelona coastline, the Besòs River Park or Montjuïc Mountain, which is hugely emblematic in the world of cycling and will feature prominently in this edition’s second stage.