Vuelta a España Rate the 2025 Vuelta a España

[Devil's Elbow]

A GT to forget (for most), but given that complaining is our MO (according to some) that's all the more reason to have the traditional poll.

 

[Peyroteo94]

I gave a 3. One of the worst GTs ever IMO. With this route, it was hard to do better.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

I'm in a good mood. 2.

 

[Netserk]

Easily the worst Vuelta I have ever seen.

What a change from last year.

1. 2019
2. 2024
3. 2021
4. 2016
5. 2017
6. 2023
7. 2020
8. 2022
9. 2018
10. 2025

 

[Red Rick]

Where's the 0 option?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Just like in 2012, they were succeeding a horrendously boring, defensively-raced Giro and a horrendously boring, one-sided Tour.

Just like in 2012, they served up a terrible parcours with a bunch of mediocre Unipuerto, Valdezcaray, an Andorra MTF, a trip to País Vasco and a denouement at Bola del Mundo.

Just like in 2012, they were given an absolute open goal to kick to be the best GT of the year just by default.

This was an open goal miss on the scale of Choupo-Moting against Strasbourg.

 

[tobydawq]

1

 

[Savant12]

Where's the 0 option?

Or Vino option.

 

[Skalman]

Awful, lackluster line-up, lack-luster route, strange UAE tactics together with the unmentionable protests made this race unwatchable. I tried to suffer through the "interesting stages" and found myself loosing interest by the minute. One of the harder to get through cycling GT I have watched, then I have Watched quite few horrible Giro´s. I gave it a 1.

 

[tobydawq]

Just like in 2012, they were succeeding a horrendously boring, defensively-raced Giro and a horrendously boring, one-sided Tour.

Just like in 2012, they served up a terrible parcours with a bunch of mediocre Unipuerto, Valdezcaray, an Andorra MTF, a trip to País Vasco and a denouement at Bola del Mundo.

Just like in 2012, they were given an absolute open goal to kick to be the best GT of the year just by default.

This was an open goal miss on the scale of Choupo-Moting against Strasbourg.

I don't agree that the Giro of this year was bad, but yeah, the Vuelta definitely was.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

The Giro was actually pretty good this year compared to how bad 2023 and 2024 were. The Tour was again a foregone conclusion and in my opinion by far the worst GT of the year. At least the Vuelta was exciting on rare occasions (albeit often for the wrong reasons), and the ITT gave slight hopes that something could happen on the last MTF.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Positives: the surprise that was Valdezcaray and something resembling a battle for both the third spot on the podium and the white jersey.

Negatives: everything else. Setting Valdezcaray (which wasn't even that special) aside, the battle for the win was similar in quality to the 2023 Giro. The breakaway battles were truly abysmal because UAE won almost everything and were made worse by Lidl working to neutralise everything in their fight for a points jersey nobody else seemed to want. No contest for the KOM either. The abysmal route was also a clear hindrance to anything interesting happening. Overall, I genuinely don't think there was a single stage that was better than bang average other than Valdezcaray. So even before we address the elephant in the room, it's down to a 2/10. Maybe a 2.5/10 that is rounded up to a 3 if I'm feeling especially generous (which I'm definitely not right now).

And as far as the elephant is concerned... without wanting to express an opinion on these protests in particular, it's by definition possible for any given protest that disrupts a bike race to have a positive effect on the world overall. However, IMO this poll is not meant to judge the effect of the Vuelta on the world overall, but to judge it as (if it were) a standalone event. For a bike race as a standalone event, any form of disruption is a negative, and thus any disruptive protest is a negative. And this Vuelta ranks at the very bottom where disruption is concerned. The only modern GT that even comes close is hell almost literally freezing over at the 2013 Giro.

So, yeah, zero doubt in handing out the 1/10, ranking it alongside the 2012 Tour and 2023 Giro as one of the three worst GTs I've watched. I'll need to have a good think which of those was the very worst ahead of @Netserk 's worst GT poll (which I think should wait for a few weeks, so that recency bias doesn't influence the score of this Vuelta too much).

 

[hrotha]

Real showstopper

 

[ice&fire]

The only relevant attack happened on a climb I'd never want to see again in a race.
Since there is no zero option, I'll justify giving it one point because Landa almost won a stage and was only defeated by Bernal.

 

[Red Rick]

The 2023 Giro erasure is deeply hurting my feelings and I find it very insensitive.

 

[OlavEH]

2/10.

Possibly the worst Grand Tour I have seen in the 23 years I've followed cycling.

 

[Rou]

How do we rate a Grand Tour that didn't officially finish?

 

[Rou]

If today's stage finished and the riders received their earned respect on the podium I would have given it a 7.
But now I won't even vote.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

Worst GT I ever watched - although in fact I barely did watch, because it was so unbearingly dull. Uninspired racing, terrible route, the whole ugliness of it all. I can't remember ever voting any GT below 5/10, but here I'm fully going for the 1/10. Cycling at its ugliest. And a really bad representation of the beautiful country of Spain. The only thing missing was a proper doping scandal.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

If Roglic won it certain users would still score it a 10/10

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

1

Can't vote negative.

Complete shitshow, not necessarily becuase of the Vuelta organisers, but more because of the lackluster attitude of the UCI and the Spanish government towards the "outside problems"

Also don't think the Tour will start in Barcelona next year... Or it shouldn't atleast if they want to race the first few days...

 

[Rou]

Also don't think the Tour will start in Barcelona next year... Or it shouldn't atleast if they want to race the first few days...

One of two things will happen with 100 % certainty (if there is no peace)
1) The Grand Depart will not be in Barcelona
Or
2) IPT will not be on the startlist

 

[Ilmaestro99]

I will go for a 1

The positives:
-the protests, which minimised the amount of this Vuelta that I had to endure
-marc soler going into psycosis
-masnada in 3-4 breakways

The negatives:
-Worst gran salida/grande partenza/grand depart in cycling history, along with 2018 giro. Utterly pointless
-awful GC battle between the same 2 teams as always. Neither GC leader at their best.
-no dramatic GC days or big attacks
-no good mountains stages, in fact they were all awful
-no sprint battles. No points battles. No kom battles.
-Uae riders winning breakway stages amongst themselves for fun.
-Shortened, pointless and meaningless stages
-Literally nothing happened
-generally just the vibe around the sport is not very good.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

One of two things will happen with 100 % certainty (if there is no peace)
1) The Grand Depart will not be in Barcelona
Or
2) IPT will not be on the startlist

Sadly, both options are more likely than peace.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Soler and Ayuso acting like idiots saved it from a 1

As I said in the Tour, we will always have the Giro