The Vuelta Ciclista a España will close the chapter of three-week races in 2021 with a route that is presumed to be simply grueling, truffled with hardness, surprises and a more than predictable heat. After winning the Tour de France, after opening the victories of the Giro d'Italia, the UAE Team Emirates has mixed objectives for the Vuelta.
The eight of the team that wears Gobik will be formed by:
- David De La Cruz
- Joe Dombrowski
- Ryan Gibbons
- Rafal Majka
- Sebastian Molano
- Rui Oliveira
- Jan Polanc
- Matteo Trentin
It's a lineup that combines different objectives, but above all it's based on people who are very experienced in these races. "There are four sprinters and four climbers. We're starting with the idea of being aggressive and aiming for all kinds of stages," says Joxean Matxín, manager of UAE Team Emirates.
David de la Cruz lands in Burgos with the role of captain. and one idea: to be as close as possible to the top 5 in a race that, on the other hand, will be full of stars. David was seventh last year and comes from fifth in Burgos. "We know he can be ahead in the overall," Matxin continues, "that's why he'll have a good team by his side.
The Catalan rider surrounds himself with people with great experience and a proven track record, as in the case of Rafal Majkawho knows what it's like to climb the podium of the Vuelta, y Jan Polanc, maglia rosa in the Giro.
The goal of hunting stages is complemented by the great illusion of David de la Cruz and can come from several places. "It's a very experienced team with enough pedigree, with stage wins in the big ones," concludes Matxín.
Here it goes Matteo Trentinwho four years ago was able to win four partial victories in the Vueltatogether with Sebastián Molanospurred on by his two wins in the Vuelta a Burgos, y Joe Dombrowskithe American who opened the Giro's account.
A Vuelta that spares neither pitfalls nor hardness
They expect three weeks of red cycling, heat, passion and hardness, a lot of hardness, because if there is one thing about the Vuelta, it is that it catches people with months of competition on routes that they like to look for.
Vuelta a España 2021 returns to its original datesafter its autumn edition due to the circumstances we all know, to fulfill a 100 x 100 Jacobean route, in the Holy Year, starting at the foot of the cathedral of Santa María de Burgos. and arriving at the same staircase of the facade of the Obradoiro, the tremendous baroque illusion of the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
It so happens that the first and last stages will be against the clock. As we say, the Vuelta 2021 starts from Burgos, making a stop at the summit of Picón Blancoon the third day. The race will head towards the Mediterranean, alternating mountains and plains, such as Albacete, where tradition speaks of treacherous fans.
Before the end of the first week, arrivals at the mountain of Cullera, the Balcón de Alicante and Velefique. will have made the first selections. After the break in Almeria, the race returns years later to Extremadura, with the inclusion of a stop, the Villuercas, beyond the Puebla de Guadalupe, which debuts in the Spanish grand tour.
The final week will be very tough. Already in September there will be two very tough finishes on Asturian soil. Tradition and innovation, first the Covadonga Lakesthen the Gamoniteiru. Two giants together on the route, a classic and a totally new one. The finish will be Galician with a day 24 hours from the end through Mos and the province of Pontevedra that aims to be a tribute to the Galician territory: not a meter of flat in more than 200 kilometers of race.
With this race profile, UAE Team Emirates will close the chapter of grand tours, the first complete cycle of Gobik in the three best races of the calendar, where cycling navigates the excellence of the gran fondo.
PhotosBettiniPhoto / Fizza Photo
