Vuelta a Espana odds: Roglic targets fourth Vuelta success

The 2024 Vuelta a Espana begins in Lisbon on Saturday 17th August, the first of 21 stages over three weeks, with 15/8 Primoz Roglic aiming to become just the second man to win the race four times.

Sepp Kuss, the defending champion, is 5/1, with Adam Yates at 6/1 flying the flag for Britain.

After the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, La Vuelta is the third and final grand tour event of 2024.

It starts with a time trial in the Portuguese capital and ends with another time trial in the Spanish capital, Madrid, though it's the eight mountain stages in between which may well determine who ends up wearing the winner's red jersey come 8th September.

Primoz Roglic - 15/8

Three-time winner Roglic will be itching to get back in the red jersey, having seen first Remco Evenepoel in 2022 and last year Kuss ride to glory.

His participation in this year's race had been in doubt up until the last minute because of a serious back injury sustained in the Tour de France.

It means that while the Slovenian superstar will lead the Red-Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team, there are question marks over whether he can sustain a general classification challenge.

With that in mind, Red-Bull have given Dani Martinez and Aleksander Vlasoc protected leadership roles in case 34-year-old Roglic begins to struggle.

Sepp Kuss - 5/1

Arriving in Lisbon as defending champion will be America's Kuss, who will be desperate to show that last year's triumph was no fluke.

The Visma-Lease a Bike star surprised pretty much everyone - including himself - by winning last year, leaving all the GC stars in his wake on a successful break on Stage 6, which catapulted him ahead of team-mates Jonas Vingegaard and Roglic in the pecking order.

Kuss missed out on the Tour de France because of illness, but showed he is in good health and form earlier this month by winning a stage and the GC at the Vuelta a Burgos.

Adam Yates - 6/1

Three years have passed since Yates rode the Vuelta - finishing fourth - and he's back with a real chance of glory.

The UAE Emirates rider was in outstanding form at Le Tour as a super-domestique for the incomparable Tadej Pogacar, but he won't have those duties to perform on the Iberian peninsula.

His victory at this summer's Tour de Suisse included two mountain stage wins, which augurs well for the coming weeks.

And, of course, he will be desperate to win the race his brother, Simon, did back in 2018.

Joao Almeida - 13/2

Sharing team-leader duties with Yates is Joao Almeida, who finished second behind the Englishman at the Tour de Suisse.

The Portuguese star will be highly motivated over the first three days cycling around his homeland, but how he fares in the mountains will determine whether he becomes a contender.

Ninth and fourth in this race in the last two years, The Panther arrives at the starting line after a fourth place at this year's Tour, albeit a time zone adrift of runaway winner Pogacar.

Enric Mas Nicolau - 15/2

Three-time runner-up and never out of the top six in his last six shots, Mallorca's Enric Mas must be thinking victory in his home grand tour has to be around the corner.

He'll love the mountains and has Movistar's backing, but the 29-year-old hasn't had a spectacular 2024 and the concern is he won't have the legs to sustain a GC bid.

Mikel Landa - 14/1

At 34 there are going to be those who feel Mikel Landa is over the hill, ironic given that going over hills is one of the Basque star's better qualities.

Freed from the shackles of riding for Evenepoel, which was his responsibility at the Tour, Landa can go for it and seek to improve on last year's fifth place.

Given that the peloton rides through the Basque country in the final week, be sure Landa will do his level best to be in contention by that point.

Daniel Martinez - 18/1

Colombian Dani Martinez was handed team leadership duties at the Giro and rewarded Red-Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe by finishing second, surely the best they would have envisaged given the form Pogacar was in.

He may well get another chance at leadership in La Vuelta should team-mate Roglic fail to mount a challenge.