Last resort: The riders and teams who must save their Vuelta a España seasons.

Since becoming the final Grand Tour of the season, the Vuelta a España has occupied a unique place on the cycling calendar. It's important, of course, as a three-week stage race, but it remains firmly third on the prestigious ladder, behind the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia.

As a result, not many top riders start the season with the Vuelta as their primary objective: it is often a plan B.

This is why the Vuelta has taken on a "last resort" feel, with riders arriving in Spain desperately chasing a victory, or even just a decent result, to cap off an otherwise disastrous season. The lower pressure and often lower level of competition make this goal more attainable, and it's quite common to see riders emerge from nowhere to win a stage here.

This year, however, the race will have a different flavor, with Tadej Pogačar 's participation drastically reducing anyone else's chances of winning the general classification, and he'll likely also take away several stage wins. But that doesn't mean there aren't any more stages to win, podiums to chase, or strong performances to add to the collection in Spain this summer.

As we approach the start from Monaco on Saturday, here are some of the riders who will be approaching the race with more pressure than usual on their shoulders, having to extract something from the last major stage race of the season.

Oscar Onley

One rider whose season really needs saving is Oscar Onley . His bombshell (and expensive) move from Picnic-PostNL to Netcompany-Ineos last summer was the headline news of the off-season, with the Scot being heralded as the new star for the Grand Tours, ready to confirm his fourth-place finish at the Tour and restore the team to its former glory.

Well, the first season of this project couldn't have gone worse: illness and injury have plagued Onley, forcing him to withdraw from Paris-Nice, the Tour de Romandie, and the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and even preventing him from competing in the Tour de France after shoulder surgery. His status as a general classification rider has therefore plummeted, and he absolutely needs a good result at the Vuelta to salvage something from an otherwise forgettable season. For fantasy cycling, Onley remains an interesting unknown : if Burgos's feelings are confirmed, he could be an investment with high potential.

The good news is that Onley appears to be on the up, having won a stage and finished second overall at the Vuelta a Burgos—a positive result, though not a season-defining one. If his form holds, he could aim for the podium, and even a fifth or third place—or even just a stage win—would bring his 2026 campaign back from the brink, giving him confidence and positivity heading into 2027.

Cian Uijtdebroeks

Cian Uijtdebroeks finds himself in a similar position to Onley in some ways: having emerged as a leading rider for the general classification in the offseason, but still unable to live up to expectations. His season wasn't as cursed as the Scot's, with a seventh-place finish at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes as his high point, but he had to abandon the Tour early after having built his season (and his entire move to Movistar) around that race.

The Belgian has made a lot of progress since making his Grand Tour debut at this very race three years ago, but his results so far have not confirmed the faith he and his agents clearly had in him as they negotiated better contracts and leadership roles. He still has something to prove, and the Vuelta would be a good way to start confirming whether he should be considered a serious GC contender in 2027. He's a name to keep an eye on for those looking for a GC upset in their fantasy team .

Furthermore, Movistar denied Nairo Quintana a final Grand Tour precisely to support Uijtdebroeks's overall ambitions at this Vuelta, so the pressure is really on to prove that that very tough choice was the right one.

João Almeida

Since finishing second in the general classification at the Vuelta a year ago, João Almeida has endured a troubled 12 months and, frankly, is barely holding on to his status as a top-level GC rider. Unexplained illnesses have caused a decline in form, and he's far from the ideal lieutenant to Pogačar we're used to seeing.

With this Vuelta a secondary priority to Pogačar, the pressure on Almeida to deliver a result for the team is perhaps less, but there remain huge questions about his condition and current level, which he will have to answer. Finishing the race will already be a top priority, given that he failed to do so in either the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes or the Tour de Pologne, but he will also hope to prove he is still worthy of leadership status within UAE Team Emirates.

He must at least play a role in accompanying Pogačar to victory, if not achieve a result himself. Another flop would seriously damage his position in the team's GC hierarchy.

Thibau Nys

It may seem a bit of a stretch to say that Thibau Nys' season needs to be "saved," given that he's been sidelined for six months due to knee surgery rather than a lack of fitness, but ultimately, 2026 has been a pretty wasted year, and he doesn't have many opportunities to try to turn things around.

An explosive climber, Nys will be in Spain to seize opportunities, work with Mads Pedersen, and essentially gauge his fitness and abilities in what is only the second Grand Tour of his career. His status as a prodigy has taken a slight hit due to injury, so this is more of a way to get back on track for next year than anything else.

Considering he nearly missed the start after suffering from toxoplasmosis, it won't be the end of the world if Nys doesn't perform at his best, but a good result – whether for himself or to help Mads Pedersen in his pursuit of the points jersey – would add a positive moment to an otherwise forgettable season.

Picnic-PostNL

There are several teams that have had terrible seasons and will approach the Vuelta hoping against all odds to salvage a good result, but none have had such a spectacularly bad season as Picnic-PostNL.

The Dutch team already got off to a bad start in 2026, when their WorldTour license was granted for only one year amid sponsorship issues, and they lost their star, Onley. Things haven't improved much since. The team has only scored one victory this year, when Casper van Uden won a stage at the Tour of Turkiye, and they are currently 30th in the UCI rankings, below several ProTeams.

The courageous team certainly hasn't given up on getting something out of this season, but it's hard to see where it could go, and their Vuelta lineup isn't particularly exciting. Still, they have 21 chances to try and do something—anything—and at least pick up some UCI points. But honestly, short of winning the entire race, there's very little Picnic could do to make this season anything other than a disaster.