Tadej’s team, UAE Team Emirates – XRG, announced what many cycling fans around the world had been expecting. The five-time Tour winner will also race the Vuelta this year—the only three-week race he has yet to win.
It will be his second appearance at the Tour of Spain, which in 2019 was his first three-week test of his career. He won three stages and finished 3rd overall behind Primož Roglič and Alejandro Valverde. Tadej will be chasing his first red jersey, which would make him the ninth rider in history with wins in all three Grand Tours.
At the 81st Vuelta, which will start on August 22 with an individual time trial in Monte Carlo and finish on September 13 in Granada, he will have a strong UAE Team Emirates – XRG lineup alongside him. It will also include João Almeida, Jay Vine, Pavel Sivakov, Pablo Torres, Kevin Vermaerke, Domen Novak, and Ivo Oliveira.
»I’m excited to say I’m going back to La Vuelta. It was my first ever Grand Tour back in 2019 and an amazing experience. Spain is a country I love to visit and race in and I think the time is right to go back. The motivation is high to finish off the year in a good way and the Vuelta will be a big target. The team is strong and we hope to do good things,« said Tadej. He has already claimed 19 victories this year in 37 race days.