Juan Ayuso and João Almeida lead UAE Team Emirates for the Vuelta a España, where Jay Vine also lines up for his second Grand Tour of the season.
New Zealander Finn Fisher-Black has been selected for his Grand Tour debut, with the line-up completed by Marc Soler, Sebastian Molano, Ivo Oliveira and Rui Oliveira.
Ayuso placed third overall on his Vuelta debut last year and the 20-year-old has impressed despite an injury-delayed start to the 2023 season, winning two stages and placing second overall at the Tour de Suisse.
The Spaniard was withheld from the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France to focus squarely on leading the line for UAE Team Emirates at the Vuelta.
“Last year’s Vuelta was something special, a race I’ll always remember and it gave me a lot of confidence,” Ayuso said. “We’ve been putting in a lot of work together the past months as a group and it’s gone really well. The route this year will be passing close to where I grew up or lived, so personally that will make it extra special too.”
The field for this year’s Vuelta is a deep one, with defending champion Remco Evenepoel, Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard and Giro winner Primoz Roglic all taking the start in Barcelona on Saturday.
“As for the competition it’s going to be tough no doubt with some big rivals on the start list but I feel we’re up to the challenge,” Ayuso said. “Going in like we did last year with two leaders worked out as an advantage, so I think it’s a good strategy. We can’t wait to get the racing started.”
Almeida placed fifth overall at last year’s Vuelta and the Portuguese rider has designs on a podium finish after taking a fine third at the Giro in May.
“The sensations are good: I feel I’m stronger than I was this time last year. I think Juan has also improved so we’re in a really good place,” Almeida said. “Last year at the Vuelta was already quite a success for us so we’re going back to aim for the same or more. We had two guys on the podium at the Tour so why not at the Vuelta too? It could be really nice.”
Vine won two stages at last year’s Vuelta and he was destined to carry the king of the mountains jersey to Madrid only to crash out of the race with two days remaining. The Australian joined UAE Team Emirates from Alpecin-Deceuninck in the off-season and won the Tour Down Under in January before riding in support of Almeida at the Giro in May.
