Dan Martin’s anticipated absence from the Vuelta has been confirmed by his squad UAE Team Emirates today.
The Italian, UAE-backed, team has named its line-up for
the Spanish Grand Tour with Dan Martin’s name absent.
Martin is set to exit UAE Team Emirates at the end of this season when
his two-year contract expires.
The 33-year-old, who celebrates his birthday today, is moving to Israel
Cycling Academy on a two-year deal.
It was not anticipated the Irish climber would ride the
Vuelta and he is expected to instead line out at Deutschland Tour, from August
29th to September 1st.
In Martin’s absence from the UAE Team Emirates line-up
for the Vuelta, the team is backing former race winner Fabio Aru and rising
star Tadej Pogačar.
It also has Fernando Gaviria in the selection, with the
Colombian looking for sprint wins after a quieter season so far.
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Also in the line-up is Valerio Conti, who led the Giro
for six days back in May, along with Marco Marcato and Oliviero Troia.
Sergio Henao and Sebastian Molano are also named in the
selection, bringing to three the number of Colombians in the team.
While Aru is the more tested general classification rider
in the team, Pogačar (20) has already won the Volta ao Algarve em Bicicleta and
Tour of California overall this year.
"I'm really excited to be able to participate in my
first Grand Tour, and can't wait to be on the starting ramp for the team time trial,”
said Slovenian Pogačar.
"I'll be in Spain with the aim of learning as much
as possible, understanding how to move in the bunch in such an important race,
and how to manage it over the three weeks.”
For his part Fabio Aru, who won the race overall back in
2015, said he was looking forward to the event after getting stronger following
his surgery earlier this year.
"As always, the Vuelta a España represents an
important and stimulating challenge, both in terms of the route and the quality
of the start list," he said.
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