Visma-Lease a Bike have announced their squad for the Vuelta a España with Wout van Aert, Matthew Brennan, and former race winner Sepp Kuss leading a strong lineup in Spain.
Van Aert is back to Grand Tour action for the first time in over a year after missing out on the Tour de France with an elbow injury sustained in a June training crash. The Belgian has seven wins to his name this season, including Paris-Roubaix and two stages at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
His latest outing came on the gravel, however, where he finished second in the Belgian Nationals. Like the rest of his teammates, he'll set his sights on stage wins in Spain, with a run at the green points jersey not out of the question.
While Van Aert should target hillier and transition stages, as well as the opening 9.4km time trial in Monaco, 21-year-old Brennan is Visma's option for the flatter sprints. The Briton is another breakaway candidate, too, and he can handle tougher sprints, making him well-suited to the Vuelta route.
Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne champion Brennan is in good form, heading to Monaco with two stage wins at the recent Vuelta a Burgos under his belt.
American climber Sepp Kuss stands out as the team's primary option for GC, though the former champion isn't likely to repeat his 2023 ride to the red jersey. Kuss is racing his third Grand Tour of the season, having finished 13th at the Giro and Tour, supporting Jonas Vingegaard at both.
Kuss won the mountainous stage 19 of the Giro from the breakaway and also came close on the two L'Alpe d'Huez days late in the Tour. Expect him to balance battling for a third career stage win with mentoring promising 21-year-old Norwegian Jørgen Nordhagen. The second-year pro finished second at O Gran Camiño and fourth at the Tour de Romandie this season and will be tackling his first Grand Tour.
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French riders Bruno Armirail – a contender for the opening day time trial – and Christophe Laporte – another stage hunter, making his Grand Tour return after a quadriceps tear earlier this year – are also along for the ride, as is 24-year-old Briton Ben Tulett, who raced to 15th at the Vuelta a Burgos. 39-year-old Steven Kruijswijk, riding his final Grand Tour, rounds out the eight-man selection as road captain.
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Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor, later being hired full-time. Her favourite races include the Tour de France Femmes, Paris-Roubaix, Tro-Bro Léon, and cycling's fourth Grand Tour, the Volta a Portugal.
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