Jasper Philipsen is a force to be reckoned with in his bid to win the first red jersey at the 2025 Vuelta. The first stage, starting from Venaria Reale, near Turin, will finish in Novara. The Belgian had already won the first yellow jersey at the recent Tour, only to retire just two days later due to a crash.

The altimetric difficulties of this inaugural stage are very few, with the only third category GPM of La Serra , located over 100 km from the finish.

Among the favourites, immediately behind the Belgian, we find Pedersen, who has come here to try to repeat the points jersey after his victory in the cyclamen at the Giro.

The sprinters at the Vuelta aren't particularly strong or of high quality; other names who could compete for the red jersey in Novara include Van Uden , who already won a stage at the Giro, Turner , Vernon, Marit, Aniolkowski, Mikhels, and Zingle.