Roglič Hot Favorite for a Hot Vuelta a España
This year’s Vuelta a España consists of 23 teams, 21 stages and 3,336 kilometers of roads. It will conclude on September 5 with a 33.7-kilometer individual time trial. Before then riders will need to tackle four hilly stages and an additional eight mountainous stages. The shortest of these is 131 kilometers (81 miles).
Primož Roglič leads the field on stage 11 of the 2020 Vuelta a España. The Slovenian is hot favorite to win the race for a third time in 2021.
Launching the route in February Javier Guillén, General Director of the Vuelta said: “The world is going through a very tough time right now, and this is being particularly felt in our country. For this reason, we wished to design a different kind of race. It is an ambitious Vuelta, that will cover many kilometers, but will stay only within Spain.”
“We want to showcase our country: its beauty and its potential as a tourism world leader. We will be present in many territories, with a huge variety of terrains and unprecedented locations, while also visiting some of the country’s largest tourist centers.”
Records Will Be Broken
What was probably not considered at the start of the year is the record-breaking temperatures that are baking the whole of the country. It is currently very hot, and temperatures are set to climb into the scorching 40s in mainland Spain later this week. This heatwave is not predicted to abate anytime soon.
Crashes are always an indeterminable hazard in cycling. Those placing bets on the outcome of this year’s Vuelta a España should also be mindful of the potential perils that accompany extreme heat and humidity.
In truth it is never cool in summertime Spain and that factor will draw punters to Slovenian Primož Roglič. The 31-year-old has won the last two editions of this contest. In 2020, due to Covid-19, the Vuelta started in cooler late October. But it was in its traditional summer slot in 2019 when Roglič had two-and-a-half minutes in hand ahead of his rivals at the finish.
A Deserving Favorite
It is easy to understand why Roglič is 10/11 favorite to win this Grand Tour with the betting firms who offer markets on cycling. Allied to his proven ability on Spanish roads he should be relatively fresh having retired from the Tour de France after just eight stages when he failed to fully recover from a stage three crash.
Showing no ill-effects, he returned to action to win Olympic gold in the Men’s Individual Time Trial a fortnight ago. Only four seconds separated the second through to fifth. But, in an amazing performance, Primož Roglič finished over a minute clear of silver medalist, Tom Dumoulin.
Can the Colombian Complete the Set?
There are some worthy rivals following Roglič in the Vuelta a España betting list. Second favorite, available at 5/1 with Unibet, is Egan Bernal. The young Colombian will be hoping to collect a full set of Grand Tours having won the Tour de France in 2019 and this season’s Giro d’Italia.
Bernal’s Ineos Grenadiers team has a very strong squad at the 2021 Vuelta so he will probably hope to make a strong impression on his team manager as early as stage 3. This has some mountainous terrain that will suit his style. If Bernal can pull out an advantage there, he may be given leader status within the team.
Diagnosed with Covid-19 immediately after his Giro victory in May, the 60-kilogram rider returned to compete in last week’s Vuelta a Burgos – a traditional stepping-stone for the Vuelta – where he showed enough to suggest he is primed and ready to put up a big display.
The Fresh and Freshest
Another that missed the Tour de France with this race in mind is Aleksandr Vlasov. Widely tipped as a star of the future, the Russian finished fourth in this year’s Giro d’Italia. He also finished second in the eight-stage Paris-Nice race in the spring. However, recent tame efforts at the Olympics and Vuelta a Burgos means he can be backed at 33/1 for a maiden Grand Tour victory here.
Perhaps the freshest of all is Adam Yates. One of four stars representing Ineos Grenadiers, the British cyclist skipped both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France to concentrate on this race. The 29-year-old won the Volta a Catalunya in March. A month earlier he was runner-up in the UAE Tour and was fourth in the subsequent Tour of the Basque Country.
Those that choose to oppose Yates will do so on the basis he has yet to finish on the podium in a Grand Tour after nine attempts. During this time has only breached the top-10 three times.
