BikeExchange-Jayco has just announced the names of the players that will be racing at Vuelta a España. Simon Yates will be the team leader while Kaden Groves is the team’s best option for sprint stages. Selecting Yates as the leader makes perfect sense since Yates has already won the Vuelta a España 2018.
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Simon stood third at the Giro d’Italia of 2021. However, he could not finish this year’s Giro, owing to a crash. The unfortunate event left him with pain in his knee and it became almost impossible for him to ride his bike. But he made a striking comeback, winning a stage race at Vuelta a Castilla y Leon and the won day race of Ordiziako Klasika.
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Even though BikeExchange-Jayco has had a very good year so far, they will still have to fight to secure their place in the WorldTour of 2023. Yates was in high spirits as he said:
We are going there to win, the team has had a great season so far, so the morale is high, and we are all motivated to finish the season off well with this last Grand Tour
Recalling the crash at the Giro 2022, Yates commented:
After the Giro I had time to recover and rebuild and it was good to start back racing again in Castilla y Leon and San Sebastian, so I am feeling ready for the Vuelta now
He is aware of the challenges that await him at the Grand Tour, but he feels ready to face them. In his own words:
There’s a lot of climbing, especially in northern Spain and in general, it looks like a really hard and challenging course
The team manager, Brent Copeland, also chipped in to provide a view of the management’s thinking:
For the Vuelta, we have a fairly young team with some riders making their Grand Tour debuts and it is exciting for us as an organization to see what they can do.
He continued:
With great options to challenge for stage wins in the climbs and on the flat, we believe we have put together a really strong team that is very diverse and can achieve a lot in this Spanish Tour
BikeExchange-Jayco’s Roster For Vuelta a España
| Rider | Country |
|---|---|
| Simon Yates | United Kingdom |
| Kaden Groves | Australia |
| Luke Durbridge | Australia |
| Michael Hepburn | Australia |
| Lawson Craddock | United States |
| Lucas Hamilton | Australia |
| Kelland O’Brien | Australia |
| Callum Scotson | Australia |
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Featured Image Via YouTube/ Team BikeExchange-Jayco
