Ineos Grenadiers have changed their Vuelta a España plans once more, with Dylan Van Baarle and Brandon Rivera drafted into the eight-man roster.
There is no longer a place for Sebastian Henao, who was on the provisional roster submitted to the race organisers last week. Teams have until just before the event to change their line-ups for the race.
Last week Cyclingnews learned that Chris Froome, Richard Carapaz, Andrey Amador, Michal Golas, Ivan Sosa, and Cameron Wurf were on the roster supplied to the race organisers, with Owain Doull, Christian Knees, and Carlos Rodriguez the three riders on standby. Froome, Carapaz, Amador, Golas, Sosa, and Wurf all remain on the team but Van Baarle and Rivera are new additions.
Cyclingnews understands that the team were impressed with Van Baarle’s recent form and decided on Monday to include the Dutchman in their line-up.
As first reported by Cyclingnews, there is no place for Egan Bernal, with the 2019 Tour de France winner instead focusing on the back injury that ruined his Tour de France defence. He will not race again this season. According to sources, Henao was replaced due to a knee injury.
Carapaz, who had a recent but small training crash, will lead the team alongside Froome. The British rider is riding his final race before leaving for Israel Start-Up Nation next season. The 35-year-old is still finding his best form after last year’s horrific crash in the Critérium du Dauphiné but heads into the race as a two-time winner after victories in 2011 and 2017.
Caparaz has seen his race plans change several times this season with the 2019 Giro d’Italia winner pulled from the Giro roster and sent to the Tour in order to back up Bernal. The former Movistar rider rode valiantly and finished second on two stages before losing out in the king of the mountains competition with just two days to go.
37-year-old Wurf only joined the team in January after a six-year hiatus from racing at WorldTour level. He took part in the Ardennes Classics and his last Grand Tour came in the 2013 Vuelta but he has been on both rosters submitted to the race organisers and looks set to start.
Sosa made his Grand Tour debut last year and was originally part of the Giro d’Italia plans but, like Carapaz, he now heads to Spain for the final Grand Tour of the season.
