Five dark horses to watch at the 2025 Vuelta a España
After assessing the GC favourites for the Vuelta, it’s time to turn our attention to some of the riders who could fly under the radar in the race around Spain.
1. Marco Frigo (Israel Premier Tech)
The man who simply loves a breakaway. Ever since his breakout moment at the 2023 Giro d'Italia, where he found himself in absolutely every breakaway, Marco Frigo has looked like has has the potential to get a Grand Tour stage victory.
Twelve months ago, he finished second on stage 6 of the 2024 Vuelta, as Ben O'Connor stole into red. In 2025, Frigo has already achieved breakaway success, with an epic solo victory of over 70km coming in stage 3 of the Tour of the Alps, along with a second-place finish on stage 4 of the Baloise Belgium Tour.
However, his breakaway efforts didn't really pay off in the 2025 Giro with no notable results coming. Perhaps Frigo found himself marked out of opportunities by the peloton, but after a strong showing in the Tour de Pologne, with some solid results, he will look to build on the foundations that he has laid out for himself to go and achieve success in Spain.
2. Léo Bisiaux (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)
The 20-year-old of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale has had a phenomenal build-up to the Vuelta, picking up his first ever professional win in the process at the Vuelta a Burgos. He did so in spectacular fashion, attacking a group of GC favourites containing some of cycling's top talents.
The confidence will be high for Bisiaux, who has been slightly underrated coming up through the ranks on the road. He is a former junior cyclocross world champion in 2023, in Hoogerheide, though Bisiaux has been overshadowed on the road by the success of his teammate, Paul Sexias, who recently finished 8th at the Critérium du Dauphiné. Bisiaux also scored a solid result back at the San Sebastian Klasikoa, coming home in 14th place before his success in Burgos.
We can expect to see Bisiaux in support of his teammate, Felix Gall, for the most part throughout the Vuelta. But if Bisiaux also finds himself in a breakaway, his race-craft, which he has displayed throughout his neo-pro season, could be able to guide him to a brilliant result in his first Grand Tour.
3. Harold Tejada (XDS-Astana)
A breakaway warrior at the 2024 Vuelta, Harold Tejada found himself in five breakaways in the aforementioned edition, with his best result a 7th-place finish on two stages. Tejada nearly struck gold from the breakaway at WorldTour level back at the Dauphiné in June, where he finished second behind Iván Romeo on stage 3. In the 2025 Tour, Tejada went into three breakaway's with incidentally, his best result another 7th-place finish.
If there is one thing for certain coming into the Vuelta, it is that Harold Tejada is a certainty to be involved in the breakaway scraps and with his persistence to get involved in them, who knows what he could achieve. His team, XDS-Astana, will be craving those glorious UCI points as they look set to remain in the WorldTour in the next promotion/relegation cycle.
4. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
Now onto a potential dark horse for the general classification, Giulio Pellizzari of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. The 21-year-old enjoyed a fine home tour at the Giro, where he finished in sixth after spending the majority of the race serving as a domestique for Primož Roglič. With the experience of competing towards the upper territory of the general classification behind him, Pellizzari will be aiming big in his first Vuelta, with his sights likely to be on grabbing a first Grand Tour stage victory, and taking it stage by stage in regards to the general classification. Pellizzari has the ability to achieve a top five in the general classification based on what he showed at the Giro d'Italia.
Pellizzari, like the earlier-mentioned Bisiaux, used the Vuelta a Burgos for preparation, where he finished fourth in the general classification after a third-place finish on the queen stage.
5. Eddie Dunbar (Jayco Alula)
Eddie Dunbar was one of the stars of the Vuelta twelve months ago, taking home two magnificent stage wins in contrasting styles.
His stage 11 victory came from a late attack catching the other breakaway riders by surprise, whilst his stage 20 victory came from attacking from a group of GC favourites. Dunbar has had a mixed 2025 season so far, although he came close to success on stage 6 of the 2025 Tour, where he finished 4th from the breakaway. A dampener for Dunbar during the Tour was his abandon before stage 8 after suffering from injuries after a crash in the run up to the Mûr-de-Bretagne.
Dunbar has been preparing for the Vuelta in the Arctic Race of Norway, where it's been about building his racing shape as he approaches the Vuelta, which begins on 23 August. Expect to see Dunbar competing yet again for stage victories come this Vuelta.
