Two years ago, Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) made his debut at the Vuelta a España, and needed only two days to earn the red leader's jersey. It was a short spell before he then relinquished the lead another two days later, though he came away with a haul of seven podiums, including a trio of stage victories.
Stage success was again a main objective for the 31-year-old Belgian, who makes his first Grand Tour start of this season. The squad will not have defending Vuelta champion Jonas Vingegaard at the start, due to recovery from a broken collarbone suffered at the Tour de France, so will lean heavily on Van Aert, young Briton Matthew Brennan and former race winner Sepp Kuss to seek daily opportunities.
