Cyclist Madis Mihkels looking forward to this year's La Vuelta
Top Estonian cyclist Madis Mihkels is part of his team's lineup for Vuelta a España, the last grand tour of the cycling calendar for 2025.
Mihkels' team, EF Education – EasyPost, announced its lineup for La Vuelta Tuesday.
The 22-year-old Estonian said he was looking forward to the race. "I am really excited. I made my grand tour debut last year at the Giro d'Italia and while I crashed in the final sprint of one stage, I came back richer from the experience. Naturally, I hope this year I will get a bit more luck. Now I already know what to expect."
"As a team we are focusing this year on winning stages. For me there will be five good opportunities, for sprint finishes and those five stages are my main personal goals," he went on.
"I may have a good chance in the first stage already. The rest of the course is very, very demanding, but I feel I am in good enough shape to make it, to preserve myself, and to retain strength for those days which are important for me."
The final Grand Tour of 2025 is here
— EF Pro Cycling (@EFprocycling) August 19, 2025
Our ambitions are set, and the team is ready to take on @lavuelta
Head to the link in bio to see what we're chasing! pic.twitter.com/JkkkQhHdHW
Mihkels will also be able to wear the Estonian champion's jersey at the Vuelta. "To ride in this jersey is extremely cool. It really is a very beautiful jersey. I like its design and I feel pride that I can wear my national colors," he noted.
La Vuelta 2025 starts Saturday, though stage one is actually being ridden in Italy — the two countries share a maritime border though not a land one — with two more stages in Italy as well.
There will also be a 20-kilometer team time trial in Figueres, Catalunya, in week one.
There will also be 11 stages with summit finishes so not many opportunities will open up for pure sprinters in the mountainous terrain.
Mihkels will, according to the EF team announcement, be joined among others by Sean Quinn (U.S.), Esteban Chaves (Colombia) and Britons James Shaw and Lukas Nerurkar, the latter the son of former Olympic marathon runner Richard Nerurkar.
However top cyclist Richard Carapaz (Ecuador) is not taking part in Spain. Carapaz had already missed the Tour de France due to illness, and is now resting and getting back into training for the autumn, when the road cycling world championships and several high-level classics are to take place.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Henrik Laever,
