How the Giro d'Italia in Budapest and the Tour de France in Copenhagen, the Vuelta with a guest appearance abroad. Utrecht and the Netherlands had already hosted the Grand Depart of the Tour in 2015.
The favourite for overall victory is Primoz Roglic from Slovenia, who has won the Tour for the last three years. Giro champion Jai Hindley from Australia will start for the German Bora-hansgrohe team. The German tour specialist Emanuel Buchmann has to withdraw at short notice due to a urinary tract infection.
Farewell to old master Valverde
Belgian young star Remco Evenepoel and French world champion Julian Alaphilippe will also be in the spotlight, as he looks to gradually return to form after his long break following his crash in the spring classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège. In addition, former champion Alejandro Valverde will be contesting his 16th and final Vuelta at the age of 42.
From a German perspective, hopes are pinned primarily on sprinter Pascal Ackermann following Buchmann's withdrawal. The Palatinate rider has been in good form recently, but suffered a heavy crash at the European Championships at the weekend. It will also be interesting to see how German talent Marco Brenner performs in his first Grand Tour. The 19-year-old from Augsburg is regarded as a good time trialist and climber. In 2019, he won world championship bronze in the junior time trial.
Almost 3300 kilometres at the Vuelta 2022
The Vuelta covers a total of 3280.5 kilometres and ends in Madrid on 11 September. The route should suit the climbing specialists, with eight mountain finishes awaiting the riders. In addition to a team time trial at the start in Utrecht, there is also an individual time trial to Alicante.
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