Kuss, Riccitello Lead North America’s Massive Ambitions at Vuelta a España

Sepp Kuss and Matthew Riccitello headline the lean but lethal North American crew at the 2026 Vuelta a España.

Stage hunters and workhorses. A rising talent and a former grand tour winner.

Only seven North Americans will roll out of Monaco on Saturday: five Americans, one Canadian and one Mexican.

What they lack in numbers, they make up for in firepower.

Kuss is the obvious headliner. The 2023 Vuelta champion remains the last U.S. male to win a grand tour, and his stage victory at this year’s Giro d’Italia made him only the second American male to officially win stages in all three grand tours.

There’s also Riccitello, who delivered one of the best American grand tour rides for a rising GC prospect in years when he finished fifth at the 2025 Vuelta and won the white jersey.

Kevin Vermaerke will have the honor and pressure of helping Tadej Pogačar to try to win the only grand tour missing from his palmarès.

Will Barta and Larry Warbasse should see plenty of chances in the breakaways, while Canada’s Hugo Houle already knows what it takes to win a grand tour stage.

And with Isaac del Toro sitting this one out, 22-year-old César Macías gives Mexican fans a new name to follow in his grand tour debut.

A top 10, a stage victory, maybe even another late-race run at the podium?

There are only seven starters, but North American fans will have plenty to cheer for over the next three weeks.

That’s one fewer U.S. starter than last year and roughly in line with recent editions. The American high over the past decade came in 2019, when nine U.S. riders started the Vuelta.

Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), 31

The Eagle of Durango is back at his favorite grand tour.

Kuss won the Vuelta in 2023 and returned last year to finish seventh overall while helping Jonas Vingegaard win red. It was the second-best grand tour GC result of Kuss’s career.

Now he’s back for his third grand of 2026 and No. 18 on his career.

Kuss won’t carry the pressure of riding for GC, which could make him more of a dark horse. He’ll be following the wheels in the mountains and looking for opportunities to add to his two career Vuelta stage victories.

After winning at the Giro in May and a pair of near-misses on Alpe d’Huez in July, another mountain stage would put a nice exclamation point on a huge season.

It’s unclear how far “GC Kuss” can go in this Vuelta, but this climber’s paradise is ideal for the Coloradan’s style of racing.

Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM), 24

The American with even bigger GC question marks is Riccitello.

The Arizonan returns for his third Vuelta after making his Tour de France debut in July, where he provided key mountain support for budding superstar Paul Seixas.

Last year’s Vuelta was his breakout. Riccitello finished fifth overall and won the best young rider competition to confirm himself as one of the best young American climbers in years.

If the legs are still there, this brutally mountainous Vuelta suits him perfectly. But at the start in Monaco, the team is backing a podium bid for Felix Gall, second at the Giro in May.

With Pogačar expected to tower over the GC, Riccitello could have freedom to chase some stage wins, and perhaps even emerge in the back half of the race as a possible podium wild card if Gall struggles.

Kevin Vermaerke (UAE Emirates-XRG), 25

Welcome to the Pogi Train.

Vermaerke returns for his second Vuelta with the prestige assignment of helping Pogačar win the race.

With the Slovenian starting as the five-star favorite, UAE will spend much of the next three weeks controlling the Vuelta. Vermaerke will be one of the engines expected to help do it, especially on mixed terrain and in the mountains.

The Californian could see some opportunities of his own. If Pogačar locks down the GC, UAE might cut loose riders like Vermaerke to infiltrate the breakaways and chase stage wins.

His second overall at the Tour of Austria, the best European stage-race result of his career, suggests he arrives ready in what’s been a breakout season since his move to UAE for 2026.

Will Barta (Tudor Pro Cycling), 30

Barta starts his third Vuelta after already racing the Giro this season.

Expect Tudor to race aggressively, and that should mean plenty of opportunities for Barta to get up the road and chase stages.

The Idahoan remains a dangerous time trialist, and he has unfinished business with the Vuelta clock. In 2020, Barta came within one second of beating Primož Roglič in the stage 13 time trial in Galicia.

Larry Warbasse (Tudor Pro Cycling), 36

The dean of the American contingent is back for Vuelta No. 6.

Warbasse also raced the Giro and came close to making something stick from the breakaways, finishing 11th on stage 13 after getting up the road.

Expect more of the same in Spain. Tudor will want riders in the moves, and Warbasse has the experience to know which days are worth chasing.

At 36, the Michigander knows the job: Get up the road, go all-in, and hunt a stage.

MEXICO: César Macías (Burgos Burpellet BH), 22

There’s more to Mexican cycling than Isaac del Toro.

With “El Torito” racing the Deutschland Tour, Macías gets his turn in the spotlight with his grand tour debut at just 22.

A fast finisher, Macías scored his first professional victory in China this summer.

Burgos Burpellet BH isn’t coming to the Vuelta to hide in the bunch. The Spanish wildcard team will attack relentlessly in search of a stage win, so Macías could get a few shots.

CANADA: Hugo Houle (Alpecin-Premier Tech), 36

Canada sends just one rider to the Vuelta, but Houle already knows what it’s like to win a stage in a grand tour.

The two-time Canadian champion has won only one professional race in Europe: stage 16 of the 2022 Tour de France.

Not bad, eh?

Houle returns to the Vuelta for the first time since 2017. He’ll bring his trademark mix of horsepower to help in the sprints and the engine to sit all day in the break.

Chasing history at La Vuelta

So what counts as a good 2026 Vuelta for the North Americans?

A stage win would be the first by an American since Brandon McNulty blasted to victory in the opening time trial in Lisbon in 2024. A podium would be the first since Kuss won the whole thing in 2023.

No Mexican has ever won a stage at La Vuelta, despite grand tour stage victories elsewhere from Raúl Alcalá, Julio Alberto Pérez Cuapio, and Del Toro. Houle gets his shot at joining Canada’s short Vuelta stage-win list alongside Michael Woods and Ryder Hesjedal.