Five must-have riders for your Vuelta a España fantasy team
Want to get the advantage over your fantasy opponents in the Vuelta, well Domestique is here to help. Read on for the five riders who you must have in your fantasy teams for the lap around Spain.
1. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
After a spectacular 2025 Giro, where he took home the points jersey along with four stage wins, Mads Pedersen will be aiming to complete a similar feat at the Vuelta. With the nature of the parcours and the quality of sprinting opposition on the start list, Pedersen could quite easily trump his Giro feat.
If you had to pick anybody for your first selection in your fantasy team, it has to be Pedersen as he will simply rack up those valuable points that you need. He looks essential to any successful fantasy squad here.
2. Tom Pidcock (Q36.5)
Fresh off the back of the Arctic Race of Norway, Tom Pidcock will be competing in his second Grand Tour with his new Q36.5 team after a quiet showing at the Giro. At the recent Arctic Race of Norway, Tom Pidcock excelled on the short and punchy climbs, where he took second in the general classification and a stage win in the process.
Pidcock's demonstrated ability on the shorter effort climbs will prove very useful in this edition of the Vuelta and perhaps could see him pick up another Grand Tour stage win to go with his triumph on Alpe d'Huez on the 2022 Tour de France. It's definitely worth taking a punt on Pidcock for your fantasy teams.
3. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep)
The winner of the Mont Ventoux stage on the Tour de France, Valentin Paret-Peintre is a classy climber that has the the potential to score big at the Vuelta. The lightweight Frenchmen loves to get himself involved in the breakaway, and he will be aiming to complete the full set of Grand Tour stage wins in just a year and a half.
At the Tour, he found himself in three breakaways where the parcours featured some brutal and extreme climbs, with his success coming in his last breakaway attempt on the Mont Ventoux. His ability to outkick Ben Healy at the end of that stage demostrated that he holds a key weapon that could prove important on some of the 'rampas inhumanas' [extremely steep climbs] of this Vuelta.
4. Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana)
The breakaway hero of the 2025 Giro, Lorenzo Fortunato, will be aiming to hit the jackpot riches of breakaways here. The Italian has been in tremendous form throughout the 2025 season, and if he can maintain that, he will be to the fore here.
It is all but guaranteed that Fortunato will be in the breakaways of the 2025 Vuelta, which again means he will pick up those juicy fantasy points. If you are looking for your 'wildcard' type of rider, Fortunato is your man. His general classification ability is also not to be understated with some strong one-week stage results, but it has not quite translated to the gruelling three weeks of a Grand Tour just yet.
5. Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers)
The comeback of all comebacks. What a joy it was to witness Egan Bernal competing and battling in the GC at the Giro. He dared to race and that's what stood out. Most notably, he roared away from other GC contenders in a group with Isaac del Toro and Wout van Aert on the gravel stage to Siena.
Bernal was quite unlucky that one of his teammates suffered a puncture which then led to his last domestique and good friend, Brandon Rivera, being used too early. If this hadn't been the case, then Bernal could have perhaps been able to achieve a better result than ninth on the day. Over the course of the entire Giro he also got himself involved in the sprints to the line in the high mountains. If you would like an alternative 'GC' rider for your fantasy team, then Egan Bernal is the perfect fit for you.
