Vuelta director counts on Roglic and turns to UAE management for Ayuso: "Spain and the Vuelta needs him"

The Tour de France has only just come to an end, and we are currently in the midst of the Olympics, but in just over two weeks, the focus will be on the last major tour of the year: the Vuelta a Espana. Race director Javier Guillén clinched the partnership with the Spanish newspaper AS on Tuesday and gave an update regarding the (possible) participants in his race. 

The Tour of Spain departs on August 17 in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, but as always, it will take a little longer before we know who will be competing in the Vuelta. One of the top contenders for this edition is three-time winner Primoz Roglic, who broke a vertebra in his fall at the Tour de France and thus is not quite sure yet.

Guillén previously revealed that the Slovenian would probably take part, but Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe team boss Ralph Denk called him back then. "Then he knows more than I do," the German revealed at the time. "I trust Roglic to be there," Guillén now repeated. "We are counting on him, but he has to be fit enough. We know that Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe will bring a good team to the start."

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Guillén eagerly hopes for Ayuso's arrival

Tour winner Tadej Pogacar will not be attending in any case. "We heard already that he would not do the Vuelta this year, but one day, he will have to come and complete his grand tour trilogy. However, there is mental fatigue after the Giro and Tour, so winning a Vuelta is complicated," the race director said. "Nevertheless, UAE has ambitions to win, with Adam Yates as one of the candidates."

Above all, however, the Spaniard hopes Juan Ayuso will be there after his abandonment at the Tour. "At the moment, we don't have confirmation from Ayuso, and I also think there is a problem we have to point out: the teams have been set a long time in advance. Those riders have done their preparations, and it's not easy to swap one rider for another."

"Nevertheless, I ask the team to bring Ayuso to the start of the Spanish race," Guillén addressed the UAE-Team Emirates management. I request it with sympathy and understanding of the circumstances. Both the riders, the Vuelta, and the country of Spain need Ayuso to be there," said the race director, who went on to mention Carlos Rodríguez, Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), and Enric Mas (Movistar) as possible classification riders at the start.

At Visma | Lease a Bike, there is talk of defending champion Sepp Kuss and presumably Wout van Aert, but Guillén says he does not yet officially have the Visma | Lease a Bike list. "We heard that Van Aert would come, but I think we will have more official confirmations next week."