Favorites stage 18 Vuelta a España 2025 | Can Pidcock and the others start dreaming after the big course change?

The organizers hadn’t given it too much thought at first: Thursday’s time trial was originally a carbon copy of the one scheduled two years ago on stage 10 of the Vuelta. The course was identical, and the winner back then was… Filippo Ganna, who is also present this year. But on the eve of the time trial, the organization announced that the course would be shortened by 15 kilometers.

The start is again in the center of Valladolid, normally featuring a technical opening section with plenty of corners and then a small climb. At that point, the road rises for about 500 meters at an average of 7 percent. The second part of the course was straightforward. Perfect for time trial specialists who love to crank up the power on that big engine!

The above image shows the intended course of the stage 18 time trial. We’ll add the details of the adjusted route below as soon as possible!

Times
Start: 2:12 PM local time / 8:12 AM EDT (first rider)

Thursday will bring glorious late-summer conditions in Valladolid. Temperatures will rise to around 26 degrees Celsius, with plenty of sunshine and a light breeze from the west.

The time trial specialists have had to wait a long time, so let’s start with them. Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers), for example, who won on this exact course back in 2023. That day, the Italian was sixteen seconds faster than runner-up Remco Evenepoel... but the Belgian isn’t here this year!

Riders like Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek) and Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) will have had this stage circled in red as well. Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), who last year took his first-ever Grand Tour stage win in the Vuelta’s final time trial, will also be eager to strike again.

Other strong time trialists include Jay Vine, Juan Ayuso, and Ivo Oliveira (all UAE Emirates-XRG), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), Alec Segaert (Lotto), Rémi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), and Matteo Sobrero (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe). Although Sobrero did suffer a nasty crash in the team time trial earlier in this Vuelta.

For the GC contenders, this will certainly be a crucial day. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) is defending a lead of 50 seconds over João Almeida (UAE Emirates-XRG), after the two practically balanced each other on the final climb on Wednesday. A striking detail: in the identical time trial of 2023, the Portuguese rider was nearly half a minute faster than his Danish rival.

For riders like Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), Jai Hindley (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), and Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), it will likely be a matter of damage control. For Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech), there are far fewer time trial references. Of course, Pellizzari did show remarkable legs on Wednesday.

Elsewhere in the GC, Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) should also be capable of producing a strong time trial.

Top favorites: Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers) and João Almeida (UAE Emirates-XRG)
Outsiders: Daan Hoole (Lidl-Trek), Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Jay Vine (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike)
Long shots: Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Juan Ayuso (UAE Emirates-XRG), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), Alec Segaert(Lotto), Rémi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ), Matteo Sobrero (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike)