In the final countdown to the 2023 Vuelta a España, Jonas Vingegaard and Primož Roglič remain firmly committed to the idea that whoever dons the final red leader’s jersey in this year’s race in Madrid in three weeks time, all that matters is that it’s a Jumbo-Visma rider.
Both Roglič, a triple Vuelta a España winner who conquered his first Giro d’Italia recently, and Vingegaard, since July a double Tour de France champion, could have every reason to demand sole leadership status inside the yellow-and-black team when it comes to the Spanish Grand Tour.
But instead, in their final pre-Vuelta press conference, the two riders neatly fudged questions about Jumbo-Visma’s top candidate for the race, with Roglič even throwing in a curve ball by saying “it could also be Sepp Kuss, he’s part of the team”.
Vingegaard then pointed out that on the few times he and Roglič have worked as co-leaders in the past that it “already went pretty well.”
Examples he could have cited include the Itzulia-Basque Country week-long stage race in 2021, which Roglič won outright with Vingegaard in second, while in the Tours de France of 2021 and 2022, Roglič quit both races from injuries, but Vingegaard went on to finish second and first overall in the two successive editions.
“We work pretty well together, I don’t think we have to decide now, we will see on the road,” Vingegaard, who has not raced since winning the Tour, insisted. “We can help each other. The main goal is to win, we’re not racing against each other, we’re racing with each other.
“We definitely have a strong team, it’s not necessarily me or Jonas that has to be in front, we all need to realise that we want to win the Vuelta and for sure the climbs will show us who is best," Roglič added before name-checking Kuss, a key mountain support rider for both himself and Vingegaard this year, as a possible Jumbo-Visma candidate for Vuelta leadership in Jumbo.
With what is widely considered the strongest team in this year’s Vuelta to support them, both Vingegaard and Roglič did not rule out the idea that Jumbo-Visma could even end up with the top two spots on the podium, something last acheived in a Grand Tour by Ineos Grenadiers in the 2019 Tour de France with Egan Bernal and Geraint Thomas.
“That would be amazing, a luxury problem,” Vingegaard said. “To win the red jersey is the main goal, but if there are two leaders [on the final GC podium], then for sure we will take it.”
“I agree,” added Roglič. “It’d be pretty sweet worries for the team.” But he warned that given the depth of the opposition, it would not be in any way straightforward. “There’s not just Remco [Evenepoel, Soudal-QuickStep], a lot of the guys [rivals] will be ready here.”
Of those other contenders, Vingegaard has ridden against many of the top names in this year’s Vuelta, but racing against Evenepoel in a Grand Tour context will be one of the multiple new elements for him this August. As the Dane said, he has no idea how that could play out.
“It’s hard to tell, as I said earlier, I haven’t raced a lot against him, so that’s hard to answer,” Vingegaard said. “For sure he’s one of the guys to beat, so we’ll do everything we can to beat him.”
Kuss a key player
Vingegaard first cut his teeth in Grand Tour racing in the 2020 Vuelta a España, when he was part of the Jumbo-Visma squad helping guide Roglič to his second straight victory.
“It was a special race,” commented Vingegaard, who did some hard work for the Slovenian in the second week of mountain climbing in particular. “2020 was the COVID season so it was raced at the end of October, but I’ve only got good memories of it. It was an amazing debut for me, helping Primož win.”
Kuss was present alongside Vingegaard in the 2020 Vuelta, too, and as both Vingegaard and Roglič pointed out, the US rider has played a critical role in Jumbo’s rise to power in the three-week stage racing scene since Roglič's first Vuelta victory in 2019.
“He’s one of the best climbers in the world and a super important domestique. You can see from his stats, he’s been on all the winning GT teams in our squad,” Vingegaard said, before diplomatically praising “all my teammates” for their roles in his success. Roglič was rather more categorical, saying simply, “see the stats; if you want to win you have to take Sepp with you”.
When it came to another question on whether Roglič would be able to give Vingegaard any advice on how to handle two Grand Tours in a single season - something the Dane has never done before this year’s Tour/Vuelta double, and at which Roglic has ample experience - Kuss once again featured in the Slovenian’s answer.
“Sepp is doing all three Grand Tours this year so he has even more information,” Roglič pointed out, “but it’s a lot nicer to come here than just stay home and train.”
“I agree with that,” Vingegaard added.
Vingegaard’s two Tour de France wins, as well as his second place in 2021, give him the higher profile as a Grand Tour racer, but it is Roglič who knows the Vuelta through and through and who will be able to benefit from his previous knowledge of defending a GC lead on Spanish soil.
“I always take nice memories from here, it’s always a fun race,, always interesting,” Roglič enthused. “There’s always action right from the start and no need to wait until the last week. So hopefully we can take some positive vibes from previous editions and really go for it this time.”
As for why he has returned to the Vuelta so often, Roglič joked, “It’s the last Grand Tour of the the season, so I have to be here. Also, it’s normally good weather too and there are a lot of supporters out there for me. That’s why I keep coming, year after year, and I’m hoping for some more success.”
“It seems like it’s a hard course, and that suits us as a team,” Vingegaard concluded. “Primož and I are both looking forward to it.”
