UAE-Team Emirates announces Vuelta squad: No Ayuso and Pogacar, all eyes on Yates and Almeida

Ayuso had to withdraw from the Tour de France due to a COVID-19 infection. "After that, my first thought was, of course, the Vuelta. It’s a race that is close to my heart, and I have special memories of it," he told AS. "But honestly, in the weeks following the Tour, I haven't returned to my previous level, so we decided to focus on the original plan."

"The plan was the Olympics and then the races in Canada. This idea came from both sides and is in my best interest — not only for this year but also for the future," Ayuso explained. "Personally, my main goal now is to get back to my best level before the season ends. It's been a tough year because after months of preparation, everything you’ve worked for disappears in an instant. But I have to accept that and just move forward."

Sporting director Joxean Matxin Fernandez added: "It’s obviously disappointing for Juan that he couldn’t finish the Tour and didn’t get to show himself after all the preparation he did. The Paris Olympics showed that he hasn’t fully recovered, and we don’t want to push him when he’s not fully fit. That’s also not good for his future."

João Almeida and Adam Yates will be the leaders of UAE-Team Emirates in the Vuelta a España. Tadej Pogacar will also skip the Spanish tour after winning both the Giro and the Tour. "The Vuelta España is a very important race for us. We have a top-class team with the likes of Joao Almeida who will be racing on home soil at the start in Portugal alongside co-leader Adam Yates. We all saw the partnership they had at the Tour of Switzerland and the work they did for the team at the Tour de France so we are confident they can do a great race," said Matxin.

"We also have the likes of Brandon McNulty who is a grand tour stage winner, Isaac Del Toro and Filippo Baroncini who both make their debut at a grand tour. Marc Soler is one of the most combative riders in the World Tour. Pavel Sivakov comes into the race in great form as we saw last weekend in San Sebastian. Also Jay Vine has bravely fought back from a serious injury to complete the selection and is in good form also as he showed in Burgos."

Almeida will start the race in his home country. "To begin a grand tour in Portugal is a dream. I am super happy to start at Lisbon and pass my hometown. Having the support from home crowds and my family and friends will be special and maybe a once in a lifetime opportunity. Now at the Vuelta I’m stepping into a leaders role alongside Adam and given the good understanding between us and all the teammates I think it’s going to be a super race for us. I’m really excited to get going."

Yates wrapped up the team’s statement: "Obviously the Tour went perfectly to plan, personally and as a team I think we rode it really well and got the result we wanted. I’ve taken a bit of rest since then and built up for the Vuelta which was one of the big goals for the latter part of the year. Myself and Joao had a good partnership going in Switzerland and I think if we’re both in top shape or either one of us is in contention we’ll be ready to make the best of it. The team we have here is quality and I think and hope we’ll be fighting for big results over the next weeks," said the Brit.

Adam Yates
Joao Almeida
Brandon McNulty
Marc Soler
Isaac del Toro
Jay Vine
Pavel Sivakov
Filippo Baroncini