Ineos Grenadiers have selected a team of young but ambitious riders for the Vuelta a España, with Josh Tarling, Carlos Rodriguez and Thymen Arensman leading the squad.
20-year-old Tarling will make his Grand Tour debut and target the time trial stages and especially the opening 12km time trial in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday.
Carlos Rodriguez is the logical overall contender for Ineos. The 23-year-old Spaniard was seventh overall in the Tour de France and sixth in the 2022 Vuelta. 24-year-old Arensman was sixth at the Giro d’Italia, while riding for Geraint Thomas and will share team leadership.
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Also on the eight-rider roster are Kim Heiduk, Jhonatan Narváez, Laurens de Plus, Brandon Rivera and Oscar Rodríguez.
“This is a young and dynamic team that has strength and potential to challenge for the GC, as well as target stage wins across a variety of terrains,” Ineos Performance Director Scott Drawer said.
“The Vuelta is probably one of the most unpredictable Grand Tours because of the route, the heat and the time in the season, so it always provides good racing. The riders and the whole team are ready to get stuck in and give it everything they’ve got.”
“We want to be aggressive and seize opportunities as they arise, whether that’s taking time on the GC with Carlos and Thymen, or stage wins with riders like Josh and Jhony.
“There is a big opportunity for us to take the leader's jersey on stage one with Josh. He demonstrated yet again at the Paris Olympics, just how strong he is in the TT discipline.”
Tarling finished fourth in the Olympic time trial despite a puncture and bike change. He is the current European champion and is surely the favourite for the one-way coastline 12km time trial. Victory would obviously give him the first race leader’s red jersey.
The route of the Vuelta is packed with climbs and mountain finishes and by far the most climbing of the three Grand Tours of 2024. The three weeks of racing start in the Portuguese capital on Saturday August 17 and end on Sunday September 8 in Madrid
Arensman and Rodriguez will have the support of de Plus, Rivera, Heiduk and Rodriguez, while Narváez will go up against the likes of Wout Van Aert in the sprint finishes.
“After the Tour I took some days off to recover and then I started training little by little to try to maintain my shape. I think the body is already recovered and I’m starting to feel more like myself after being ill for some time, Carlos Rodríguez said.
“It’s the first time that I will do two Grand Tours in a row, so it’s going to be a new experience for me. I just want to enjoy the race as much as possible, and it’s going to be special with the crowds out on home roads.
“We’re going into this with a strong team, and we’ll fight to get the best result possible both in GC and in the stages. Thymen and I have already raced and trained a lot together, and for sure this will help us manage the different situations in the race in the best way possible.”
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