Cycling fans are set to see another huge race over the coming weeks as La Vuelta a Espana is set to begin following the recent Tour de France.
However, many of the top riders in the world including Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard won’t be present for the race after suffering with injuries during the biggest race of the year, leaving an open field for many others to compete for victory themselves.
We’ll take a look at the favorites on the field to come out on top in this race, and provide you with our best free cycling betting picks to to try and earn you some extra cash while you take in the action.
| La Vuelta 2024 |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primoz Roglic | +180 | +180 | +200 |
| Sepp Kuss | +500 | +500 | +400 |
| Adam Yates | +600 | +600 | +550 |
| Enric Mas Nicolau | +650 | +650 | +650 |
| Joao Almeida | +650 | +650 | +650 |
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Below you’ll find a list of the favorites to win the La Vuelta a Espana 2024 cycling race.
With Pogacar and Vingegaard both missing from the race after their Tour de France outings, Primoz Roglic has been installed as the favorite fo La Vuelta.
But after a big crash himself, his status for the Vuelta is unknown despite the race start being just a few days away. That crash forced him to abandon the race at Stage 12, and he also decided to miss the event on August 10th which was initially scheduled to fine-tune him before this event.
With that said, for all of his TDF bad luck, Roglic has had great success at the Vuelta. He won the Vuelta in three consecutive years between 2019 and 2021, before following up a crash in 2022 with a third-place finish in 2023. It also marked the end of Roglic’s tenure with Visma as he left for Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe and now wants find success there.
Prior to entering the Tour, Roglic looked in great form after wining the Criterium du Dauphine. If he’s healthy, Roglic is most definitely the man to beat. If he shows up to the Vuelta in less than 100% condition, then there is not enough value to back him anyway so it’s one to watch in the lead up to the start of the race.
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Sepp Kuss surprised every single person that pays attention to the sport a year ago Vuelta a Espana last year, and he did it in incredibly dramatic fashion too. There were a few points in the final stages where it looked like both Roglic and Vingegaard would be able to prevent his success, but he stayed ahead of his teammates and claimed a historic win.
Kuss was sorely missed in the 2024 Tour de France for Visma, and more specifically Vingegaard, as the top man didn’t have his right-hand man for the mountain stages. That resulted in Pogacar’s UAE team smashing the peloton and essentially waltzing to victory.
This year Kuss’ form has blown hot and cold. He won the mountains classification in the Tour of Basque Country and looked set for a big run at the TDF before Covid meant he couldn’t ride.
However, Kuss demonstrated that he’s on great form heading into the Vuelta after a Vuelta a Burgos victory this past weekend. The reigning Vuelta champ is chomping at the bit to add another title to his mantle. With nine summit finishes and 13 medium to hard mountain stages, Kuss has a solid chance at finishing on the podium again and with Roglic not guaranteed to ride, there is amazing value for him to win.
Adam Yates was one of Pogacar’s key domestiques who helped to crush the rest of the field as they smashed the peloton, and with no Pogacar in La Vuelta this could be his chance to take the lead. Yates finished 6th in the standings after doing a great amount of work in the mountains for Pogacar, but will want a taste of success here.
Prior to the TDF, Yates won the Tour de Suisse and he also won the Tour of Oman earlier in the year. Yates has shown great form this season and it would be a real surprise if he wasn’t a genuine contender to cross the line first in this race. He will have to compete with his teammate Joao Almeida though, but a strong start should see the team back him.
This will be Yates’ 5th appearance in the Vuelta and in his last outing in 2021 he finished fourth, which was his best performance. He could well top that this summer, and at +600 there is some great value in him getting the win.
No team has more pressure on them to perform than Movistar. The Spanish team always wants to perform at a high level in the Vuelta, but they fail to do that far too often.
Enric Mas will most likely be the team leader for Movistar however, there’s no guarantee that will be seen as the right decision by everyone and that could lead to problems. They’ve been sorely outperformed by most of the major Grand Tour teams this year and could do with some unity and a good performance.
Mas has zero wins so far this season, but does have two Top 5 stage finishes in the Tour de France. Yet, he only finished 19th overall in the GC standings.
This will be Mas’ 7th appearance in the Vuelta. He’s finished runner-up on three occasions back in 2018, 2021 and 2022 but last year, Mas was 6th. A top-five finish is far more likely than a victory and +650 isn’t the best value in that case, so this is one to avoid.
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About the Author
Daniel is a football writer who has a great thirst for the Premier League and other major European leagues. A lover of the beautiful game and a firm believer that the eye test is better than statistics. Also an avid MMA fan.
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