Archie Ryan is set to make his Grand Tour debut after being named in the EF Education-EasyPost team for La Vuelta, which starts this weekend. The Wicklow man is in his second year at World Tour level and is one of the most exciting climbers in the history of Irish cycling
As Richard Carapaz, who would have led the team in the Spanish Grand Tour, has been ruled out, the door is now wide open for Ryan and some of his team mates to make a big breakthrough over the three weeks of racing.
Ryan had suffered a number of knee injuries when riding for Jumbo Visma Development as an U23 but managed to get over that and win a stage at Tour de l'Avenir two years ago. He then secured a place at EF Education-EasyPost and won a stage at Coppi e Bartali (2.1) last year.
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More recently, he finished 2nd overall at Tour of Austria (2.1), won by Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), with the Irishman finishing on the podium on two stages and in the top 10 in four of the five stages.
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Along with Ryan, also in the EF Education-EasyPost team for the Vuelta are fellow debutants Markel Beloki, Lukas Nerurkar, and Jardi van der Lee along with Esteban Chaves, James Shaw, Madis Mihkels and Sean Quinn.
The fact Carapaz is not in the team, while Ireland's Tour de France hero Ben Healy is also absent - and was never set to start - offers a major chance to riders like Ryan, Beloki and Nerurkar.
All three are very talented riders who have put together a series of very strong performances in recent years and a Vuelta stage win would usher them into the big time.
More to come.
