Top five king of the mountains favourites for the Vuelta a España
With eleven summit finishes in store at the 2025 Vuelta a España, the fight for the beautiful, blue and white polka dot jersey is well and truly up for grabs. Will the winner be a GC contender or a rider who gets himself involved in the breakaway dogfights? Domestique takes a look at five favourites for the jersey.
1. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike)
As the out and out favourite for the general classification, Jonas Vingegaard will naturally be a clear favourite for the polka dot jersey too, due to the ten summit finishes in the 2025 edition.
Vingegaard already has one mountains jersey in his career, which he claimed en route to winning the 2022 Tour de France. Can he repeat this in 2025?
Obviously, Vingegaard will not be deliberately trying to win the mountains classification, but he could still pick it up in the process of winning the race overall. This in turn brings up a question of its own - does the mountains classification need a reform in the current era, as riders like Vingeggard and Tadej Pogačar seem more and more likely to wrap up these classification without even trying.
No matter, Vingegaard will be a huge favourite here.
2. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek)
It would be quite something if Giulio Ciccone were able to win the polka dot jersey at the 2025 Vuelta, as he then would have completed the Grand Tour treble of king of the mountains titles. Ciccone had looked in great shape at the Giro only for his race to be ended by a crash on stage 14. But the Italian has been on song since returning from his long lay-off, claiming the San Sebastian Klasikoa and a stage win at the Vuelta a Burgos.
It's been clear since his return to racing that Ciccone is in a cracking shape, similar to his Giro condition. With his race craft and knowhow to get the job done in Grand Tours, and with his winning experience, it's not at all beyond the realms of possibility that Ciccone will be able to complete his polka dot jersey treble.
3. Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
It would be hard not to include the holder of the polka-dot jersey from the 2024 edition, Jay Vine. He actually was on his way to winning the polka dot jersey at the 2022 Vuelta, while riding for Alpecin-Deceuninck, until a brutal and bloody crash forced him to abandon near the final hurdle of that edition on stage 18.
Vine loves the Vuelta, and he will hope to shine in the 2025 edition after some horrendous injuries in recent years. Since abandoning the Giro in May, Vine has raced just twice, and he failed to finish both in San Sebastian and the Circuito de Getxo.
The Australian's best performance of the 2025 season came back at the Tour de Romandie, where he took a stage and a third in the GC along with a strong showing on the brute, Thyon 2000, where he finished fourth. If Vine can replicate that form here, anything is possible - though his primary role will be to work for João Almeida and Juan Ayuso.
4. Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana)
Lorenzo Fortunato has had quite the 2025 season along with his XDS-Astana team as they climbed out of the pit of doom and away from the dreaded relegation zone from the WorldTour for the 2026 season. Fortunato shone bright like a diamond at the 2025 Giro, where he took a chokehold on the KoM jersey there, winning by a margin of 155 points over his XDS-Astana teammate, Christian Scaroni.
Fortunato was a staple of the breakaways of the 2025 Giro, putting in astounding efforts to secure the elusive classification points. His pre-Vuelta form has been sparkling, as he finished second in the general classification at the Vuelta a Burgos behind the young gun Isaac del Toro.
Fortunato clearly means business as he competes in his first ever Vuelta. And, given XDS-Astana's aggressive approach in 2025, it seems a forgone conclusion that Fortunato will be involved in the scrap for the polka dot jersey.
5. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost)
Another previous winner of the polka dots jersey at the Vuelta, Richard Carapaz comes into the race off the back of a break from racing since the Giro back in May. He raced in trademark Carapaz style there, with some high-octane attacking, and he might again be competing for the general classification come Madrid.
Still, there is no reason why he will not be able to add to his sole polka dot jersey at the Vuelta. It's a similar situation as mentioned before with Vingegaard, as those ten summit finishes are most definitely going to play a significant role the polka dot jersey fight and so GC men are automatically contenders for the crown.
