Opinion: Mikel Landa, Thibaut Pinot, Chris Froome and the other riders points to prove this weekend at La Vuelta

After Richard Carapaz managed to save his Vuelta with victory on Penas Blancas on Thursday, many other riders will look to use the summit showdowns on La Pandera and the Alto Hoya de la Mora to mastermind their own return to the top table.

For the man in red, Remco Evenepoel, Sunday’s blockbuster finale in the Sierra Nevada will not only be a chance to extend his lead at the top of the standings, but will also give the 22-year-old the opportunity to put another myth to bed – namely his inability to perform over long, tough climbs at altitude.

Having already proven the critics wrong by making light of the hot weather and steepest ramps of the Vuelta, Evenepoel will eye a strong performance on the highest peak of the 77th edition. And a commanding performance on the Alto Hoya de la Mora, which rises to 2,510m, would set the scene perfectly for the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider to prove that he can see out the third week of a Grand Tour, and defend the lead deeper than he had ever gone before in a stage race.

At the same time, Primoz Roglic will hope to reignite his bid for an unprecedented fourth consecutive Vuelta crown, while Spain’s Enric Mas will in turn eye his first Vuelta stage win in four years to silence those critics who believe him to be too defensive and lacking in panache.

But let’s forget Evenepoel and his big rivals for a minute. There are a whole host of riders who, like Carapaz, have not been at the races in Spain – riders from whom we expected a bit more but who could now set the record straight.

The Australian has been on the fringes of the top 10 but has yet to show even glimpses of the form that saw him win a stage in the Giro in 2020 and the Tour last year. Injured in a crash at the Tour this July, O’Connor eventually saw his race ended early by illness. Any hopes that he could bounce back in Spain are still on ice, with O’Conner the best part of nine minutes down on Evenepoel.

But all it would take was one strong performance and the 26-year-old would join the select club of riders with stage victories in all three of cycling’s Grand Tours. This should be his aim in the Sierra Sur de Jaen and Sierra Nevada mountains this weekend – and any win would propel him up onto the top 10.

The riders wearing the most recognisable jerseys in the World Tour have been somewhat invisible at this Vuelta – save for some breakaway cameos from Julius van den Berg, Jonathan Caicedo and James Shaw. Along with Britain’s Carthy, the Colombian duo Rigoberto Uran and Esteban Chaves have been entirely absent from the GC narrative – the latter over one hour in arrears.

Carthy is the best placed of EF’s leadership trident, although he would need to replicate the breakaway exploits of Wilco Kelderman on Thursday to exit the current GC no-man’s land in which he finds himself, some 12 minutes in arrears.

What’s happened to the Carthy who grimaced his way to victory on the Angliru in 2020? The 28-year-old has not managed to push on from his podium finish in that Vuelta and needs a morale-boosting win to get back on track. That or perhaps a change of focus outside a team where Carthy could well have found his ceiling.

Go on to ProCyclingStats or First Cycling and check the standings and you’ll see that, contrary to popular belief, the Frenchman is actually riding this Vuelta. Save for his fourth place on the Collau Fancuaya in Stage 8, Pinot has done very little of note in this race, and lies half-an-hour down in 27th place.

Now is the time for Pinot to exploit his lowly position on GC to get into a break and take a first Grand Tour stage win since 2019. Winning a stage is the reason why he’s in Spain – and it’s all been gearing up to these remaining five summit finishes. Either that or – and this can’t be ruled out – Pinot is a busted flush, albeit one with a legendary love of goats and a kind, compassionate face.

Talking of busted flushes, what is the purpose of Mikel Landa in his home race this year? One place below Pinot in the standings, the duo has become a combined monolith of mediocrity – anachronisms in a peloton where young, talented riders are ruling the roost. Such is the fast development of the likes of Evenepoel, Juan Ayuso and Carlos Rodriguez in the tyre tracks of comparative old hands in Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard, that even Primoz Roglic is starting to look old hat in 2022.

No GC rider has become a bigger victim of the emerging generation than Landa, who this year has managed to drop into the abyss of near obscurity despite a third-place finish in the Giro achieved without once finishing higher than fourth on any stage.

It’s true, Landa has never been a GC force in his six Vuelta appearances to date – but he needs to do something quite out of character in the remainder of the race if he wants to take his first stage win in Spain in seven years.

Just when we thought the four-time Tour winner was turning a corner, the two-time Vuelta champion came to Spain and started pedalling squares like it was 2021 all over again. Having knocked on the door of the Tour top 20 and flirting with a stage win on Alpe d’Huez before his Covid withdrawal in July, Froome has taken several steps back in his rehabilitation.

Currently 125th and over two hours down, he could well record his lowest ever finish in a Grand Tour. Drop eight more places and he’ll match his lowliest performance in the Tour in 2021, when he failed to finish higher than 72nd in any stage. His best finish so far in Spain? 72nd.

His position on GC is, of course, a red herring – something only mentioned by dint of his previous knack of winning these races by a considerable margin. He arrived in Spain as a domestique for Michael Woods – and even the Canadian’s early withdrawal was never going to see him elevated to leadership status. A stage win would make every time he has toiled off the back of the peloton worthwhile – and would be a key stepping-stone in rediscovering some of his former lustre.

Old boys Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana-Qazaqstan) have had quiet races for their usual lofty standards – even since their thinning hairlines started getting the better of them. What better way for 42-year-old Valverde to sign off in style than by winning on La Pandera, the location of the second Vuelta stage win of his career 19 years ago while riding to the overall win in 2003?

Nibali’s final year at Astana has been very much an exercise of going through the motions – mirrored by the team’s entire performance across the board, save for some plucky pushes from Samuele Battistella in this Vuelta, and Miguel Angel Lopez’s solid if unspectacular return to the top 10 of a Grand Tour. No one can deny the fact that Nibali lacks a sense of occasion – and even though the 37-year-old’s powers are waning, he will surely move heaven and earth to part with a flourish.

And finally, breakaways in this Vuelta have been severely lacking in one usual ingredient: Thomas De Gendt. It’s not inconceivable that the Belgian used up all his lucky and power for his Giro win in Naples. But the 35-year-old Lotto Soudal rider will surely keep plugging away – and he had a good track record of making the right calls when it matters most.

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