La Vuelta 2022 team guide: Start-list, star riders and race goals for Jumbo-Visma and their rival 22 teams

After our red jersey guide and stage guide we take a look at each of the 23 teams featuring in this year’s Vuelta, which kicks off on Friday with a 23km team time trial around the Dutch city of Utrecht. We list each rider and discuss who is the real leader of each team while outlining their various goals over the next three weeks in the Netherlands and Spain – all while eschewing the burning question of what Spanish food corresponds best to each team.

(It was just too much of a tall order given Spanish cuisine is limited to tortilla, churros, chorizo and deep-fried fish.) Ad Let’s now toss aside the lazy (and factually incorrect) cultural stereotypes – after all, there are currently 228 Michelin starred restaurants in Spain – and run through the 23 teams and 184 riders looking to animate the third and final Grand Tour of the season… Vuelta a EspañaThe road decides: Where La Vuelta will be won… and lost8 HOURS AGO Vuelta 2022 route and stages: What’s in store for Roglic and rivals? Roglic's to lose? The red jersey contenders out to surprise the Slovenian AG2R-Citroen Ben O’Connor Clement Champoussin Antoine Raugel Jaakko Hanninen Bob Jungels Nans Peters Nicolas Prodhomme Andrea Vendrame Star rider: Ben O’Connor, the French team’s honorary Australian of Scouse descent. Race goals: A podium for O’Connor after his Tour disappointment plus stage wins for the reborn Jungels and the versatile duo of Peters and Vendrame.

Alpecin-Deceuninck Xandro Meurisse Lionel Taminiaux Tim Merlier Robert Stannard Jay Vine Jimmy Janssens Oscar Riesebeek Gianni Vermeersch Star rider: Tim Merlier – although not for long: the Belgian sprinter is off to Soudal-QuickStep next year. Race goals: Early sprint wins in the Netherlands for Merlier would