The 2026 Vuelta teams list has started to take shape, with 184 riders set to race across 23 squads. The race begins in Monaco on August 22 and runs toward Granada across 21 stages.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG will arrive with the clear overall favourite, Tadej Pogačar. The world champion returns to the Vuelta for the first time since 2019, when he made his Grand Tour debut.
Pogačar enters the race after winning a record-equalling fifth Tour de France in July. He will try to become the ninth male rider to win all three Grand Tours.
He said he was excited about “going back to La Vuelta” and described Spain as a country he loves racing in. UAE will give him major support in the mountains.
2026 Vuelta teams confirm key leaders
João Almeida adds another elite option for UAE. The Portuguese rider finished second at last year’s Vuelta and won on the Angliru.
Almeida’s season was disrupted when illness ruled him out of leading UAE at the Giro d’Italia in May. Jay Vine also returns to Vuelta plans after his own Giro ended early.
Vine crashed out on stage 2 of the Giro. Last year, he won two Vuelta stages and the mountains classification.
Pavel Sivakov, Pablo Torres, Kevin Vermaerke, Ivo Oliveira and Domen Novak complete UAE’s listed squad. The team won seven stages at the 2025 Vuelta.
Lotto-Intermarché will bring a younger roster built around development and stage opportunities. Jarno Widar, 20, will make his Grand Tour debut as team leader.
Widar will race three weeks for the first time. Lars Craps, Lorenzo Rota, Luca Van Boven, Reuben Thompson and Roel van Sintmaartensdijk will support him on harder terrain.
Those riders may also enter breakaways when the race situation allows. For sprint days, Lotto-Intermarché will rely on Steffen De Schuyteneer and Vito Braet.
De Schuyteneer will also make his Grand Tour debut. Sports director Mario Aerts said Widar must gain experience “without pressure.”
Jayco AlUla and Picnic PostNL back youth
Paul Double will lead a young Jayco AlUla squad in only his second Grand Tour. The 30-year-old British climber debuted at the 2025 Giro d’Italia.
Double has enjoyed a strong season, including fifth places at the Tour of Oman and the Tour of Austria. He said Spain will bring a “tough few weeks.”
Finlay Pickering joins after making his Grand Tour debut at last year’s Vuelta with Bahrain-Victorious. Asbjørn Hellemose, Hamish McKenzie and Rudy Porter will start their first Grand Tours.
Koen Bouwman brings the most three-week experience in the team. The former KOM winner and two-time Giro stage winner has 12 Grand Tour starts, including four Vueltas.
Jasha Sütterlin and Alessandro Covi add more experience. Both will ride their first Grand Tour in Jayco’s purple colours.
Picnic PostNL also bring a youthful team, including three Grand Tour debutants. Chris Hamilton stands as the most experienced rider in that selection.
The 31-year-old Australian has started 15 Grand Tours, including five Vueltas. He took third-place stage finishes at the race in 2021 and 2023.
Gijs Leemreize has six Grand Tour starts. He placed sixth on two Vuelta stages from breakaways in 2024.
Juan Guillermo Martinez, a 21-year-old Colombian climber, debuted at the Vuelta last season. Timo De Jong will start his second Grand Tour after abandoning the Giro on stage 5 in May.
Mattia Gaffuri, Henri-François Haquin and Oliver Peace are listed for Grand Tour debuts.
Stage hunters target chances across Spain
XDS Astana’s selection looks built for stage hunting in the mountains. Lorenzo Fortunato skipped the Giro, where he could have defended his KOM title, to focus on his third Vuelta.
Harold Tejada arrives after arguably the best season of his career. He won a Paris-Nice stage in March and later finished second in a two-up sprint against Mauro Schmid on Tour de France stage 13.
Tejada finished 12th overall at last season’s Vuelta. Cristián Rodríguez also gives Astana a proven climbing option after placing 13th in 2023 and 2024.
Victor Langellotti joins after a mid-season move from Netcompany-Ineos. The Monegasque champion made his Astana debut at the Tour de Pologne.
Yevgeniy Fedorov, Henok Mulubrhan, Alessandro Romele and Darren Van Bekkum complete the Astana line-up.
Cofidis will target a stage victory with an experienced squad. Bryan Coquard brings options for bunch sprints and selective finishes after taking two wins this season.
Alexis Renard, Alex Kirsch and Paul Ourselin will support Coquard in fast finales. Emanuel Buchmann, Sylvain Moniquet, Louis Rouland and Sergio Samitier will focus on uphill breakaways.
Burgos Burpellet BH will start the Vuelta for the eighth time. The Spanish ProTeam still chases its first stage win in the race.
Three-time Vuelta stage winner Jesús Herrada leads the roster. The former Spanish champion will make his eighth appearance and seeks his first Vuelta win for Burgos.
José Manuel Díaz returns for a third start. Sergio Chumil, Mario Aparicio, José Luis Faura and Sinuhé Fernández add climbing strength.
Clément Alleno and Mexican sprinter César Macías will make Grand Tour debuts. Macías, 22, is expected to target bunch finishes.
Equipo Kern Pharma return after missing last year’s race. The team won three stages in 2024 through Pablo Castrillo and Urko Berrade.
Castrillo has moved on, but Berrade remains. Iván Ramiro Sosa brings the squad’s most Grand Tour experience with three starts.
Sosa won the Vuelta a Burgos twice and previously raced for Ineos and Movistar. He finished second at the Presidential Tour of Türkiye in May.
Mats Wenzel, a 23-year-old from Luxembourg, is the other non-Spanish rider in the Kern Pharma line-up. He will make his Grand Tour debut.