La Vuelta director Javier Guillen expresses desire to see Tadej Pogacar compete in Spain as he unveils 2023 plans
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Updated 01/12/2022 at 19:44 GMT
Vuelta Espana director Javier Guillen has revealed “most spectacular” plans for the 2023 edition, including seven summit finishes, mountain stages in Tourmalet and Andorra, and a final battle similar to the explosive Galicia finish in 2021. Guillen also expects Remco Evenepoel to defend his red jersey, and expressed his desire to see Tadej Pogacar compete for the first time since 2019.
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Javier Guillen has unveiled plans for the 2023 edition of Vuelta a Espana and hopes to see Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel in contention.
The Spanish Grand Tour director says they have “all the desire in the world” to see Pogacar take part after the Slovenian has recently prioritised the Tour de France.
Pogacar, who won the 2020 and 2021 editions of the prestigious Tour de France, has also hinted at a return to the event that served as a springboard in 2019 when he finished third.
Guillen also expects Evenepoel to defend his 2022 red jersey, and “wants to have the best” lining up for the race that begins in Barcelona in August.
"Evenepoel will go to the Giro and not to the Tour, the good thing would be that he came to defend the title,” he said.
“We want to have the best, and it makes us especially excited that young Spaniards run, like Juan Ayuso and Carlos Rodríguez, that is a great goal.”
Guillen revealed some of the plans for Vuelta a Espana in 2023 and described it as the “most spectacular” yet.
The Spanish race is set to begin in Barcelona on August 26 before finishing in Madrid three weeks later.
The route includes seven summit finishes, mountain stages in Tourmalet and Andorra, and a final battle similar to the explosive Galicia finish in 2021.
Riders will pass through Andorra and France and endure a climb on Tourmalet before returning to Angliru, with the mountain stage expected to be decisive in the final stretch.
"It will be the most spectacular Vuelta along the route, then it will be interpreted by the riders, who are the protagonists,” Guillen claimed. “The 2023 Vuelta will be very popular with the public.”
"The mountains will decide the Vuelta, without a doubt, but in the last week anything can happen, there will be an individual time trial, stages with climbs, another classic model.”
The World Cup is set to take place before the final Grand Tour of the year in 2023 instead of two weeks later as usual.
"I don't know if this fact will affect the Vuelta because there are no precedents," Guillen added.
“We have delayed the start of the race by a week so that there are more recovery days compared to the Tour.”
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