Velogames Preview – Spain 2021

Time for my favourite grand tour and the last chance for any teams still searching for glory in the biggest races. Without any other articulate thought on how to structure my excitement for this race, let’s just get right down to it shall we!

The Route

There are three main themes with the route this year. Firstly, and to the surprise of no one, there are seven summit finishes with one other difficult day in the high mountains. The climbing isn’t confined to these stages though, and you can expect testing climbs on the medium days as well. Another key point, is the number of opportunities available for the pure sprinters. Usually there might be four of five bunch sprints, but this race could see as many as seven. One of those is slightly uphill, but still, a lot more incentive for sprinters than we’re used to. Lastly, there’s bags of breakaway potential on offer. Breakaway wins have been very popular this year with 10 at the Giro and 9 at the Tour. I think we’ll see a similar number here, but the number of incredibly hard summit finishes lead to incredible unpredictability.

This year’s route foregoes the finish in Madrid in favour of a time trial bookended race from the Catedral VIII Centenario 2021 in Burgos to the Santiago Cathedral for La Vuelta de las Catedrales. The opening time trial is a short prologue style affair that will set the early scene, whereas the final stage is 33.8km and will be decisive for anyone still in the hunt for the red jersey. Along the way are the usual mix of bonkers climbs, excellent medium stages, and a fair few opportunities for the sprinters. Watch out for a brand new finish atop the Altu d’El Gamoniteiru on stage 18, a monstrous ascent over 14.5km at an average gradient of 9.8%. Here are the main stages to look out for.

Stage 3: The first major summit finish.
Stage 9: Week one ends with yet another difficult climb up the Alto de Velefique.
Stage 14: Another summit finish, but I’m watching for the 2.9km 13.5% climb in the middle.
Stage 15: The only high mountain stage this race that doesn’t finish up a massive hill.
Stage 17: The first of a race defining double header, this one finishes on the brutal Lagos de Covadonga.
Stage 18: The brand new climb of the Altu d’El Gamoniteiru. If the riders were feeling it on the Covadonga, they probably won’t have a good time here either.
Stage 20: A large number of short sharp climbs defines the back end of this stage. Expect multiple attacks.
Stage 21: The final stage time trial.

Velogames Category Guide

This is going to be very difficult. Some of the teams here are absolutely insane, stacked with talent. I’ll do my best to break it down and give you sound advice, and also try and shine a light on potential break out riders who often appear in this race. I can see a few really good options straight away, and there are some beautiful curve balls that throw a huge spanner in the works. Also bear in mind that there are a few teams yet to be added to the game, so I’ll add these to the guide later on and send out a tweet when I do. So have fun sorting through it all and let’s get right to it!

All Rounders

Primož Roglič, 26 Credits: The favourite and for good reason. He’ll be disappointed with how the Tour turned out, but he bounced back beautifully to an Olympic time trial gold medal and the defending champion will be fired up for this. Not including this year’s Tour, he has averaged over 2500 fantasy points in the previous four grand tours he’s raced.
Egan Bernal, 22 Credits: This is his first Vuelta a España and he’s part of one of the strongest grand tour teams I’ve ever seen. He took some time off after his Giro win and warmed up quietly at the Vuelta a Burgos. He’s definitely here for the win.
Adam Yates, 16 Credits: INEOS are also calling him a favourite. He has shown some great form in week long stage races this year, but I would just call him excellent help for Bernal. There are some more tempting cheaper alternatives to pair with one of the expensive lads.
Aleksandr Vlasov, 12 Credits: He’s taken a 4 credit hit since his dream team performance in the Giro and he too warmed up quietly at the Vuelta a Burgos. Didn’t have the best luck here last year, but he’s growing into a top GC rider.
Enric Mas, 12 Credits: Death, taxes, and a Movistar trident at a grand tour. Mas is here with Valverde and López, but I think it’s this guy who’ll be the best in this team. 6th in the Tour and 5th here last year, he’ll be relishing all the climbing that is to come. Valverde is also 12 credits and it’s not out of the question for the 41 year old to have a good race. He’s very much a sentimental pick though.

Elsewhere here are Pavel Sivakov, 12 credits, who the team are saying is in great form to support his leaders after an impressive Vuelta a Burgos. There are also some cheaper alternatives who could be really good value, especially if you take Roglič. First up is Mauri Vansevenant, 8 credits, who at only 22 years old has had some great results this year including a one-day win in Italy. Don’t expect the world of him, he’s not a GC contender yet, but he is an exciting prospect with a very distinct style. Felix Großschartner, 6 credits, is 4 cheaper than he was in the Giro and he had an excellent race last year. Looks to be sharing duties with Max Schachmann and hasn’t had a spectacular year, that was true last year though when he took 9th overall and 5 top 10s. Lastly is David de la Cruz, 6 credits, who appears to have been given the green light for GC after 7th here last year and 5th at the Vuelta a Burgos. He’s flown really under the radar this year so who knows what he’ll pull out of the bag here.

Climbers

Richard Carapaz, 18 Credits: The new Olympic road race champion and 3rd place at the Tour. Not a bad year for the Ecuadorian. INEOS give a few hints that he wants to animate the race. The lead here is Bernal’s, but Carapaz is a great second option for stage wins, the king of the mountains, or even the overall. It all depends how knackered he is.
Mikel Landa, 16 Credits: He’ll be in bullish mood after his exit at the Giro and has warmed up with victory at the Vuelta a Burgos. He’s backed by a team almost as strong as INEOS and packed with climbing talent, just look at the rest of this category to see five of his teammates. I really hope he has a problem free race, because frankly, he deserves it.
Hugh Carthy, 14 Credits: 8th at the Giro might have been a little disappointing for him, but here at the Vuelta is where he shines. He won the final stage of the Vuelta a Burgos and another good GC placing here is very possible.
Miguel Ángel López, 12 Credits: Also 12 credits like his teammates in the all rounder category. He’s had a bad year by his standards and was very unfortunate at the Tour. I would say Mas is the better Movistar option and there are some other really interesting picks in this category to consider.
Mark Padun, 10 Credits: He shot to prominence after back-to-back summit finish stage wins at the Critérium du Dauphiné. He supported Landa at the Vuelta a Burgos and finished 3rd himself. Hard to say if he’ll be after stage wins here or even the king of the mountains. If he’s purely on Landa support then he might not be worth it. An intriguing prospect though.
Romain Bardet, 10 Credits: 6th at the Vuelta a Burgos with a stage win. He’s only raced the Vuelta once back in 2017 and he did okay. He doesn’t really race much in Spain so it’s hard to gauge just how well he does on the famous ‘rampas inhumanas’ (look that up if you don’t know what it means, it’s a glorious phrase). A top 10 overall and a few top 5s on stages will represent a successful race for him.
Guilio Ciccone, 10 Credits: He has never raced the Vuelta before and hasn’t finished his last two grand tours. Showed brilliant form at the Giro before his exit and was comfortably among the best climbers at the race.
Guillaume Martin, 8 Credits: A enigma of a rider, can never tell which version of him will show up. The main thing to go on is probably that he won the king of the mountains here last year and scored a hat full of fantasy points. I’m hoping for something similar this year.

There are a multitude of other riders in the climbers category like always, including some good cheap options. There’s Sepp Kuss, who’ll be supporting Roglič but might fancy a stage win along the way. At 10 credits he could be too expensive and he isn’t a GC rider. The majority of the Bahrain team is here and Caruso, Haig, and Poels are all in here at 8 credits. All have had pretty successful years and will be backing up Landa beautifully. Amongst the 6 creditors are Lucas Hamilton, who’s role here is being downplayed by his team. Presumably they think there was too much pressure on him at the Tour and they want to see him ease into the race. He has been interviewed saying he fancies some revenge though, which is quite exciting.

Sprinters

Jasper Philipsen, 14 Credits: A significant price increase after his Tour performance. His 2nd time at the Vuelta after last year, where he won a stage and finished in the dream team.
Arnaud Démare, 14 Credits: The only other expensive sprinter and the team are all in on stage wins for him. He’s a master at performing in weaker sprint fields and with no Bennett, Ackermann, Groenewegen, or Ewan he could win a few here. He’s never raced the Vuelta before though and he’s not a huge fan of climbing.
Jordi Meeus, 10 Credits: The first time I’m mentioning him in a guide because this is the first time he’s being backed by Bora to sprint in a grand tour. This is his first grand tour and he’ll be relishing the opportunity, but he does have serious competition.
Fabio Jakobsen, 10 Credits: Back at the big time after his horror crash at last year’s Tour de Pologne. Seemed to be getting back into the swing of things with 2 victories at the recent Tour de Wallonie. He’s only 24 and has raced the Vuelta once before in 2019 where he won 2 stages.
Michael Matthews, 10 Credits: BikeExchange’s main objectives at this race are stage wins primarily coming through this man. He was in good form at the Tour and there are a few stages that suit him. 10 credits is a tempting price as well.
Matteo Trentin, 10 Credits: He’s sprinting well at the moment and is usually pretty consistent in grand tours. However, he was outdone in the sprints at the Vuelta a Burgos by his teammate Molano who is also a 10 credit sprinter.
Davide Cimolai, 8 Credits: Included on Israel Start-up Nation’s roster and worthy of consideration after his dream team performance at the Giro. Bear in mind that the team announcement mentions he’s sharing sprinting duties with Itamar Einhorn.

The cheaper option to consider here is Alberto Dainese at 8 credits. He is also young at just 23 years old, but he does have a good sprint on him. This is his grand tour debut though and he didn’t finish the Vuelta a Burgos. I think the right option is to go for one of the big guns though. There are six good looking sprint stages with another couple of uphill affairs that will suit Matthews. My bet is on Jakobsen being the best sprinter with Matthews, Philipsen, and Démare not far behind. Difficult to see how it’ll play out in practise.

Unclassed

For the first time I can remember, we have a couple of 10 credit unclassed here in Tom Pidcock and Max Schachmann. The latter has had a solid year, but I would say he maybe isn’t worth it alongside his significantly cheaper teammate Großschartner and the other options in this category. He has also never raced the Vuelta before and hasn’t performed well in Spain since 2019. Pidcock on the other hand is 22 years old and the newly crowned Olympic mountain bike champion. A brilliant record in his first Spring Classics campaign not withstanding, this is his first taste of a grand tour and the team will take it day by day. He did dominate the Baby Giro last year, so he has stage racing pedigree. It is spectacularly tempting to pick him. Also hidden in here are several sprinters who I’ll point out, and a few other really interesting riders who might be a bit unknown. As always there will be more to consider, so join the conversation if you spot someone else interesting.

8 Credits
Alex Aranburu: Astana’s man for the flat and hilly stuff. This is his 5th grand tour and 4th Vuelta, a stage win must surely be close for the 25 year old.
Andrea Bagioli: Another youngster who recorded a 3rd on a stage at his debut last year. Only 22 years old and is being given a free role along with James Knox to see what they can do in the mountains.

6 Credits
Geoffrey Bouchard: KOM winner at this year’s Giro and the 2019 Vuelta.
Clément Champoussin: Exciting young prospect.
Omar Fraile: Astana’s hilly breakaway guy and Spanish national champion.
Josef Černý: Time trialist and grand tour stage winner.
Andreas Kron: Young Danish prospect and stage winner at the Tour de Suisse.
Florian Vermeersch: Another young Lotto rider and will be sprinting.
Michael Storer: Dominated the recent Tour de l’Ain and this is his 4th Vuelta at only 24 years old.
Thymen Arensman: If not Storer for DSM then this guy is a good bet. 2nd Vuelta for him and 2 top 10s last year.
Quinn Simmons: Bold, bearded, exciting racer on grand tour debut at 20 years of age.
Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg: Sprinter for Qhubeka NextHash.
Joe Dombrowski: Stage win at the Giro this year before the Landa crash ended his race.
Riccardo Minali: Sprinting for Intermarché.
Koen Bouwman: There’s a chance he could be the best domestique for Roglič.
Magnus Cort: He’s walking the fine line between 6 and 8 credits thanks to his consistency. Six grand tours completed and a win in three of them, including last year’s Vuelta.
Simon Carr: Exciting young climber who may be given some license in the mountains.

4 Credits
Jay Vine: 5th on the final Vuelta a Burgos stage and 2nd at this year’s Tour of Turkey.
Jonathan Lastra: Almost won a stage here in 2019.
Rémy Rochas: Cofidis breakaway merchant.
Odd Christian Eiking: Number one Intermarché candidate for crazy breakaway attempts. 2nd at the recent Arctic Race of Norway and 7th at the one-day Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa.
Mads Würtz Schmidt: 27 year old Danish national champion.
Lawson Craddock: The time trial field is fairly week here so he might record a couple of good results.

So there you have it, clear as mud and lot’s to wade through! Tons of intriguing options here and I don’t think I’ll be doing anything else between now and 4pm on Saturday. I’ll leave you with the news that it’s Movistar, Astana – Premier Tech, Team DSM, and Groupama – FDJ who are without a grand tour stage win yet this year, so will probably be the most anxious to break that streak. Remember to get involved in the league if you haven’t already, here’s the code: 985978721. As always, the goal is to have someone in the league win the whole thing. We’re getting closer, I can feel it. Happy picking and enjoy the race!