<p>The <a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/huddle/misc/tips-and-predictions/vuelta-espana-preview">2025 Vuelta a España</a> begins shortly, with the first of 21 stages scheduled to take place on August 23.</p> <p>It comes just a month after the conclusion of the 2025 Tour de France, with notable absences in the form of Tadej Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel, and defending champion Primož Roglič. That will boost the chances that Jonas Vingegaard has of claiming a Grand Tour win. If he does, it would be the first time he has won a Grand Tour since his two consecutive Tour de France successes in 2022 and 2023. In 2023, he finished runner-up in the Vuelta. but didn’t participate last year.</p> <p>As highlighted in our 2025 Vuelta a España event betting preview, though, he will have the likes of Juan Ayuso, João Almeida, Enric Mas Nicolau and Richard Carapaz to contend with.</p> <h2>Vuelta a España 2025 Stages 1-3 Guide: All You Need To Know</h2> <p>Looking ahead to the opening three stages of the 2025 Vuelta a España, bettors should understand what each stage consists of.</p> <p>Stage 1 will begin in Italy, with riders tackling a 200km distance that is flat between Torino and Reggia di Venaria - Novara. It is a stage that will suit sprinters, with Arnaud De Lie, Sam Bennett, and Olav Kooij likely to be among the main contenders. Early General Classification (GC) contenders will likely try to avoid time losses.</p> <p>Stage 2 is also largely flat, but it does feature an uphill finale. Riders will race over 157km as they go from Alba to Limone Piemonte. Juan Ayuso and João Almeida might be looking at this stage as strong climbers to try and build time advantages early in their pursuit of the GC.</p> <p>Stage 3 is a medium-mountain stage that sees riders race from San Maurizio Canavese to Ceres over a distance of 139km. It’s a stage that will suit climbing specialists and opportunistic breakaway riders, leaving individuals like Mikel Landa, Richard Carapaz, and Enric Mas Nicolau to be contenders due to their climbing ability.</p> <h2>Vuelta a España 2025 Stages 1-3: Betting Predictions</h2> <p>While Vingegaard is considered the overall favourite in the <a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/betting/cycling/vuelta-a-espana/vuelta-a-espana-9474521">betting odds to win the 2025 Vuelta a España</a>, the Dane is not expected to win any of the upcoming stages. They are better suited to sprinters and punchy climbers, whereas he’ll likely thrive in the higher mountain stages and time trials.</p> <p>As noted, Stage 1 is all about the sprinters, so backing one of Arnaud De Lie, Sam Bennett, and Olav Kooij to win could be a good pick, before backing Juan Ayuso for victory in Stage 2.</p> <p>For Stage 3, it could be worth backing Richard Carapaz, as he is strong in the mountains and is one of the outside bets to be the overall winner of the red jersey.</p>