Remco Evenepoel has won Vuelta a España 2022. The Grand Tour victory is the first in the professional career of the 22-year-old Belgian rider who currently competes for the QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl team. 

Juan Sebastian Molano Benavides won the final stage – a 96.7-kilometer flat parade stage in and around Madrid – thereby securing a second stage victory for his UAE Team Emirates outfit in this year’s Vuelta. Molano won stage 21 ahead of Vuelta points classification winner Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) who was hoping to add a remarkable fourth stage victory to his 2022 La Vuelta palmares. Molano’s teammate Pascal Ackermann finished third behind the Dane.

In the general classification Evenepoel finished the Vuelta in 80 hours, 26 minutes and 59 seconds, a mere 00:02:02 ahead of runner-up Enric Mas (Movstar Team) who finished a Vuelta in second place for the third time in his career but has yet to shine in the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France. 

“The emotions are still high. I can’t describe what it means to take my first Grand Tour and to be on the podium. It is something really special that I will never forget,” a proud Vuelta winner told Roadcycling.com. “I worked hard for this and I made a lot of sacrifices, so I’m very happy it all paid off here in Spain. I’m proud to see the support of those at home (in Belgium), I’m thankful for that, as I am for the fantastic support I have continuously received from my team and my family,” Evenepoel added.

Evenepoel explained he will now aim for further Vuelta victories as well as Tour de France and Giro d’Italia champion titles. 

Second place podium finisher Mas was happy with his performance in this year’s Vuelta and what he has achieved. Mas was forced to abandon this year’s Tour de France because of a Covid-19 infection.

“First of all, I’d like to thank all people who have been by my side in challenging times like the ones I went through over the last few months,” Mas said. “The people who have worked with me to fix the problems, my wife, my family, the whole team and all fans who were there for me at all times. As I explained yesterday, coming from the place we came forty-five days ago and making the La Vuelta podium is something so beautiful for me and the whole Movistar Team.”

UAE Team Emirates’ 19-year-old Juan Ayuso took the third spot on the GC podium, his podium finish possibly affected by Jumbo-Visma’s defending Vuelta champion Primoz Roglic having to abandon this year’s Vuelta a Espana following a crash late in the race.

“It’s a dream to be on the podium in my first Vuelta a España,” Ayuso explained to Roadcycling.com. “I arrived at the start taking it day by day and gaining experience, not really knowing what my own limits were and I’m thrilled I could manage this result. We raced well for the whole three weeks and finished it off impressively today with Molano’s stage win as icing on the cake.

The 2022 Vuelta a Espana was the last Grand Tour for experienced Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde (Team Movistar) who led the peloton into the Madrid circuit while being received with applause and praise by an enthusiastic audience along the roads of the Spanish capital. Valverde, who was visibly emotionally moved by the reception and waved to spectators with tears of joy in his eyes, will end his professional cycling career at the end of 2022. 

The 42-year-old rider failed to take a stage victory of his own in this year’s Vuelta but delivered important support for team leader Enric Mas in a selfless manner during the three weeks on the roads of Spain. In a remarkable career, Valverde managed to become World Champion, win twelve Vuelta stages, the Vuelta a Espana overall, the Classica San Sebastian twice, Liege-Bastogne-Liege four times, and take four stage victories in Le Tour de France. 

“It’s been a Vuelta full of emotions for me,” Valverde explained. “It’s not a day’s emotion like the one you feel with a stage victory, which is more an instantaneous thing, an explosion, but a long-standing emotion which I’ve been enjoying so incredibly much every day during this Vuelta,” Valverde added.

“I want to thank everybody for their support over the last three weeks of La Vuelta. I will surely return to La Vuelta, though not as a rider. There are, however, fourtunately still some races left in the season and my career. I’ll be competing in Italy during the month of October, planning to end it all at Il Lombardia 2022.”

This year’s Vuelta was also the last Grand Tour for 37-year-old Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) who won La Vuelta in 2010, the Giro d’Italia in 2013 and 2016, the Tour de France in 2014, Milano-San Remo in 2018, six Tour de France stages, and seven Giro d’Italia stages. Nibali was aiming for a third Giro Grand Tour title in this year’s Giro, but finished fourth overall, nine minutes and two seconds behind 2022 Giro d’Italia winner Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) who finished tenth in this year’s La Vuelta.

Ineos-Grenadiers’ Richard Carapaz took the victory in the best climber classification, Mads Pedersen (Team Trek-Segafredo) won the points competition, UAE Team Emirates won the best team classification, and Evenepoel won the best young rider classification behind Ayoso.

The 2022 Vuelta was significantly impacted by crashes that took out important riders such as defending Vuelta champion Primoz Roglic and by Covid-19 that forced many riders to abandon the race, including Simon Yates (Team BikeExchange), Pavel Sivakov (Ineos-Grenadiers), and Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) - infections and virus spreading caused by the lax health rules and regulations introduced and enforced by the UCI and the Vuelta organizers in an otherwise beautiful race.

2022 La Vuelta a Espana Results and Final Overall Rankings: