CyclistCyclists 2024 Vuelta a Espaa predictionsBrace yourselves, the final and most chaotic Grand Tour of the year is upon us. The 2024 Vuelta a Espaa starts on Saturday 17th August with a time-trial around Lisbon, Portugal. The peloton will head out of Portugal and embark on a brutal three weeks of riding with plenty of mountain stages and mind-bogglingly steep finales on the menu.The startlist is open this year.Tadej Pogaar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel are deciding to skip the Vuelta in favour of other goals. Instead, we have the three-time winner Primo Rogli, Adam Yates, Joo Almeida, Sasha Vlasov, Mikel Landa, Richard Carapaz and Enric Mas who all start as GC favourites.The Vuelta is always tough to call. Weve dialled in and used the brightest minds at Cyclist to throw some predictions out there. Be cautious, were rarely correct. Related Posts Lads on (Grand) Tour: The 6 British riders at the Vuelta a Espaa 2024 Who are the favourites for the 2024 Vuelta a Espaa? Vuelta a Espaa 2024: Route, start list, how to watch and all you need to know Will Strickson, web editorA.S.O./Oman Cycling Association/Thomas MaheuxWills bravely backing the GC yo-yo Adam Yates. Wait, Im getting a little bit of dj vu.Red jersey: Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates)After finishing on the podium at the 2023 Tour de France, Adam Yates only managed sixth last month, despite seemingly being in the form of his life before the race. Why? He was saving himself for the big one. He and Simon are equal in almost everything, with Simon even headed to Visma next year to mirror Adams role. But what Adam doesnt have is a Vuelta win, until now.Green jersey: Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike)This Vuelta is a cruel place to send a sprinter, so the points jersey will be won by a rider who gets in breakaways, can climb and challenges for stage wins. Wout is far and away the best in that regard and hes not here to domestique.Polka dot jersey: Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale)VPP had a breakout Giro and hes back to revive Decathlons season after a dire Tour de France. Hes built perfectly for the Vuelta and its steep climbs and hes more than ready to get himself in the breakaway every day, especially with normal team leader Ben OConnor leaving the team at the end of the season.White jersey: Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech)Like Parent-Peintre, Riccitello is made for this race. The young American was pipped by Isaac del Toro at last years Tour de lAvenir but hell have freedom here while the Mexican is on domestiquing duties. And hes got Mike Woods, George Bennett and Dylan Teuns to help him.Bonus prediction: James Shaw finally breaks throughThe East Midlands own James Shaw has had a wild ride in his career so far. After coming through at Lotto-Soudal he dropped down out of the WorldTour for three years before returning for EF in 2022. He came so close to a breakthrough stage win at the Tour last year and has been out most of 2024, but his time is now.Ewan Wilson, staff writerTour de Suisse/Buchli FotografieAfter delusionally backing Vingegaard to win the Tour last month, I have touched grass and returned to the dark side: UAE Team Emirates.Red jersey:Joo Almeida (UAE Team Emirates)The 2024 Vuelta is hard to call. With no Pogaar, Vingegaard or Evenepoel its hard to rustle up another name. I guess, this is how Grand Tours were before 2022.In a quest to equal the feat of Visma -Lease a Bike 12 months ago, I think UAE Team Emirates will win the race and round out a Grand Tour clean sweep in 2024.Im still lamenting the lack of Pogaar at the Vuelta, however, if you had to put a gun to my head, Id say Joo Almeida will win the Vuelta. Why, I hear you ask. Well, the Portuguese rider is a solid trooper. Hes led Grand Tour teams before and he showed the most reliable form at the Tour de France. Perhaps Yates or Ayuso derail this plan, but I feel like its meant to be for Bota Lume.Polka dot jersey: Guilio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek)Ciccone hopefully had a reality check at the Tour de France. After missing out on the top 10, he must have realised that his place in Grand Tours is as a breakaway hunter rather than a GC robot.At the Vuelta, I suspect that we will see a full factory reset for the Abruzzese rider. The Lidl-Trek climber will soon be seen fighting in breaks and hoovering up KOM points once again. After all, its the only KOM jersey missing from his Grand Tour collection.Green jersey: Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike)Browsing over the Vuelta stage profiles, it appears that there is just one pure flat sprint day. Every other stage seems to be littered with hilly obstacles or some kind of hurdle for the pure sprinters to overcome.In this case, it feels like a no-brainer to choose Vuelta debutant Wout van Aert. The Belgian is showing signs of form improvement after the Olympics, and at long last he wont have to work on behalf of Jonas Vingegaard.White jersey: Carlos Rodrguez (Ineos Grenadiers)After unsuccessfully backing Charlie Rogers yes, thats how his name translates for white at the Tour, I am reprising this act again. Rodrguez is only 11 days older than me. Perhaps this is why I feel so intertwined with him.Regardless, Ineos desperately need something out of this Vuelta and I think the 23-year-old Spaniard has the answers. He is strong on long climbs and sometimes a punchy Vuelta-style finish. That said, Rodrguez has a bad habit of crashing in Grand Tours, so heres to hoping that gravity is in his favour at the Vuelta.Bonus prediction: Matthew Riccitellos big breakArizonas Matthew Riccitello has been slowly rising through the ranks. After falling at the final hurdle to Isaac del Toro at the 2023 Tour de lAvenir, Riccitello has enjoyed a strong 2024 season. This was displayed loud and clear with a top 10 at the Tour de Suisse back in June.Israel-Premier Tech gave Derek Gee a GC carte blanche at the Tour. I am hoping the same energy is passed onto Riccitello at the Vuelta. Whether its a lower top 10 in the GC or a stage win, Riccitello could become a household name among cycling nerds by the end of the 2024 Vuelta a Espaa.Robyn Davidson, editorial assistantPeter Mundy/Getty ImagesRobyn is putting a lot of faith in both the young guns and the old reliables. Will it pay off?Red jersey: Joo Almeida (UAE Team Emirates)I was torn between writing Joo Almeida or Adam Yates which means Primo Rogli will stay upright for his fourth title or Sepp Kuss will fly like an eagle to victory. But Almeida fascinates me, always so close to the top when helping others like Tadej Pogaar at the 2024 Tour de France and finished third at the 2023 Giro dItalia.Weve previously seen him thrive when racing alongside Adam Yates too, who will reunite at the Vuelta. Take just one look at the Tour de Suisse results this year and you can see they were running rampant with 1-2 finishes on multiple stages (and the GC).Can Almeida be bolstered by the start in Portugal and snatch an early red jersey like Pogaar at the Giro dItalia? Time will tell.Green: Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike)The Vuelta a Espaa is uncharted territory for Wout van Aert. Hes making his debut in the race and will be there to help Sepp Kuss defend his title, but Visma-Lease a Bike has already labelled him as a stage hunter too. With his powerful sprint and a little bit more freedom, hes one to watch at finish lines but also in the points classification having already won a green jersey at the Tour de France in 2022.Mountains: Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost)Richie Carapaz is in great form and will take flight in the mountains, just like he did towards the end of the Tour de France this season for the polka dot jersey there. Carapaz will be supported by Rui Costa who is already raring to ride on home roads in Portugal and Colombias Rigoberto Urn who wants to end his final Grand Tour(!) on a high.Young rider: Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates)Sure, I could say Ineos Grenadiers Carlos Rodrguez or Visma-Lease a Bikes Cian Uijtdebroeks but Im also really looking forward to seeing how 20-year-old Isaac del Toro goes over a three-week race. The 2023 Tour de lAvenir winner has been a hot topic through the 2024 season too, kicked off by his stage win at the Tour Down Under and overall victory at Vuelta a Asturias.This will be his first Grand Tour so err on the side of caution if youre taking betting tips here (please dont).Bonus prediction: Max Poole to win a stage on debutThe Team DSM-Firmenich-PostNL team brings a balanced squad to the Vuelta a Espaa and has marked it as a low-pressure experience for Brit Max Poole. The 21-year-old will have a go at the GC to build on this in the future.He impressed at the Vuelta last year having finished fourth on Stage 18 and arrives to the start line having placed second overall at the recent Vuelta a Burgos behind Sepp Kuss of Visma-Lease a Bike. If he gets into a comfortable breakaway, he could just about bag a stage win throughout these three weeks.Martin James, production editorMIGUEL RIOPA/AFP via Getty ImagesRichard Carapaz wants some blue polka dots to go with his red onesRed jersey: Joo Almeida (UAE Team Emirates)No Pogaar, Vingegaard or Evenepoel means this is going to be a Vuelta short of star power, right? Far from it. Almeida is a star of tomorrow just waiting to be made, and besides, in Sepp Kuss and Primoz Rogli hell have the winners of four of the past five Vueltas to push him all the way. But with this years race making a rare visit to his home country of Portugal for the opening weekend, Almeida will never have a better chance to step up to the top of the podium in Madrid. Green jersey: Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike)Yes, its a clean sweep of green jersey predictions for Wout van Aert. But you can hardly blame us with a lack of outright flat stages keeping his sprinter rivals in short supply, Van Aert should have plenty of chances to build up points, and potentially stage wins, on the numerous hilly or medium mountain days on this years parcours. Polka dot jersey: Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost)Carapaz has a strong EF Education-EasyPost team around him, but will he really need them? Not if his red polka dot-winning performance at the Tour de France is anything to go by. Or his blue polkas triumph in his last appearance at the Vuelta two years agoYoung rider: Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious)Unlike Ewan, Im not going to repeat my prediction of Carlos Rodrguez having got it wrong in the Tour de France, instead Im returning to one I got right tipping Antonio Tiberi to take the white jersey at the Giro. Admittedly, he didnt do a huge amount at the recent Vuelta a Burgos to suggest its a wise choice, but maybe he was just sand-bagging to throw everyone off the scent.Bonus prediction: A proper battle on the final weekend for the red jerseyTake Tadej Pogaar out of the mix and finally it looks like we could have a decent GC battle at a Grand Tour in 2024, with at least half a dozen riders in the frame as potential winners. Of course crashes or a murderously tough parcours could split the standings wide open before the race is halfway finished, but we could also be in for a battle for the ages, where mere seconds gained or lost can shake up the standings deep into the final week. If were really lucky, we could see the race decided on the brutal summit finish of Picn Blanco on the final Saturday, or even in the race-closing Madrid time-trial the following day. Fun fact: At 24.6km in length, its almost exactly the same distance as the final day time-trial at the 1989 Tour de France and we all know how that went We also predicted the ongoing Tour de France Femmes. If you want some terrible betting advice, check that out here.The post Cyclists 2024 Vuelta a Espaa predictions appeared first on Cyclist.