Veteran US professional Larry Warbasse (AG2R-Citroën) may be tackling two Grand Tours in the same season for the first time since 2016 this year, but his target in the upcoming Vuelta a España remains identical to the Giro d’Italia earlier this year: breakaways. Warbasse is currently riding the Tour de Pologne as his first stage race since the Giro d’Italia this May and the key warm-up race for August 26th’s start in Barcelona.
And as he told Cyclingnews, the 33-year-old has already checked out the key climbs in the toughest stage of the first week of the Vuelta when he was training at altitude in Andorra.
Although chary of revealing any details of where he will be riding in 2023, Warbasse sounded optimistic for next season, saying he will likely remain in the WorldTour. The American has been racing for AG2R-Citröen since 2019.
Sporting a small bandage on one arm after getting caught up in a mass crash on one stage, Warbasse nonetheless remained convinced that the Tour de Pologne provides an ideal build-up for the fifth Vuelta of his career.
“I’ve done this combination a few times before, it works really well,” Warbasse said.
“Pologne is a good, high-level race with punchy stages, and you kind of have a bit of everything. It’s not crazy, crazy fatiguing like some WT stage races, so you definitely come out with better form than when you came in.”
“A lot of guys come here after doing altitude, and you get those finishing touches you can’t get from normal training. It kind of complements a big block at altitude with the endurance. But for me, anyway, the Vuelta a España is the big goal.”
Warbasse himself did a few weeks of training at altitude in Andorra prior to Pologne, and he took a good look at the stage 3 finish at Arinsal. On a day with 3,500 metres of vertical climbing, the two key moments will likely be the pair of category 1 climbs that conclude the stage, the Ordino and then almost immediately afterwards, the ascent to the summit finish at Arinsal.
“I don’t think the last climb is long enough for a huge sort out, maybe 12 to 15 minutes or something,” Warbasse said, “so you’ll see some separation in the main group, but it’s not going to be crazy."
"It is at relatively high altitude, though” - both Ordino and Arinsal almost touch the 2,000-metre threshold where altitude starts to have a noticeable effect - “so that could make a small difference.”
“It’s not crazy hard, not like some of the Andorra stages have been in the Vuelta in the past. But you could maybe see a breakaway win. It should be interesting.”
Warbasse would certainly be at an advantage, given his local knowledge, if he were to get in on a move on stage 3 of the Vuelta. Meanwhile, looking at the long-term, the American, currently in a contract year, is far from downcast about his prospects of staying in top-level racing in 2024. As Warbasse put it himself, “I don’t have any news yet, but it should be good for next year. I should be still in the World Tour."
