UAE Team Emirates-XRG confirm Vuelta a España line-up

UAE Team Emirates-XRG have unveiled their eight-man squad for the 2025 Vuelta a España, headlined by Portuguese star João Almeida, who will lead the team’s general classification ambitions when the race begins in Torino on 23 August.

Almeida will spearhead the team’s GC ambitions as he builds up his training following his crash at the Tour de France. Almeida, who enjoyed a prolific start to the season with nine victories already, will be joined in a co-leadership role by Spain’s Juan Ayuso, offering the team multiple strategic options across the three-week race.

Supporting them will be a well-rounded and experienced team, including Mikkel Bjerg, Felix Großschartner, Domen Novak, Ivo Oliveira, Marc Soler, and Jay Vine.

João Almeida: ”It’s a special feeling to start the Vuelta as team leader, especially with the form I’ve shown this season.The recovery from the Tour crash has been smooth and my sensations in training have been improving. I hope I keep progressing in the next few weeks and be close to my best level at the start of this Vuelta. We have a strong group around us, and I believe we can fight for something big.”

Ayuso returns to his home Grand Tour with a podium already on his palmarès from 2022, and will assume a co-leadership role.

Matxin Fernández (Sports Manager): “We’re going into the Vuelta España with a clear plan built around João and Juan. Both are proven GC contenders and complement each other well. The team around them brings depth and experience that will be key in the mountains and time trials. The idea this year was for Tadej to return to the Vuelta, but the season has been a long one for him. We spoke and agreed that the best thing for him now is to take a good rest and build up to his final season goals.”

Meanwhile, Tadej Pogačar, fresh from his emphatic fourth victory at the Tour de France, will take a well-earned break before returning to competition in North America. The Slovenian will headline UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s squad at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal in September, leaving out the Vuelta in favour of a measured build-up to the end-of-season Classics.

Tadej Pogačar: “After such a demanding Tour, we decided it was best to take a break. The Vuelta is of course a race I would dearly love to return to. I have fantastic memories there from 2019, but now the body is telling me to rest. I’m excited to go back to Canada; the races are tough but beautiful, and they fit my style well. I’ll be aiming to be back racing well again for that part of the season and for the World Championships especially.”