The final Grand Tour of the season, the Vuelta a España, is nearly upon us and Team Sunweb are pleased to reveal their long-list of 13 riders for the race. The 2017 edition is composed of five flat stages, one flat finish at high-altitude, eight uphill stages, five mountain stages, an individual time trial and a team time trial to open the race.
With five potential Grand Tour debutants on the long-list, the Vuelta will become an important stepping stone for Team Sunweb’s talent development for the future. Wilco Kelderman (NED) is a rider whom the team had already confirmed participation of during Team Sunweb’s Launch at Münster-Osnabrück, Germany, last January. After crashing out of the Giro on stage nine with a fractured finger, the 26-year-old Dutchman prepares for his second Grand Tour start this year and will go to Spain to explore his opportunities for the overall, without pressure on results.
Ahead of the race Team Sunweb coach Marc Reef (NED) said: “We have a good mix of riders on our long-list with a variety of skills that will be valuable in different types of stages and race situations. With our ambition in mind to explore our overall possibilities, we will need a team with time trial, climbing and Grand Tour experience to be competitive throughout the three weeks of racing. As always in Spain, the parcours are really challenging and we have been preparing over the past months extensively so we know exactly what to expect.
“Coming off the back of a really successful Grand Tour season for Team Sunweb, we hope to continue the momentum in Spain and can use the extra knowledge and experience gathered during these successes to help us on our journey to Madrid.”
RACE
Vuelta a Espana (WT)
DATE
19/08-10/09/2017
WEBSITE
www.lavuelta.com
COACHES
Arthur van Dongen (NED)
Marc Reef (NED)
LONG-LIST
Søren Kragh Andersen (DEN)
Warren Barguil (FRA)
Bert De Backer (BEL)
Johannes Fröhlinger (GER)
Chad Haga (USA)
Chris Hamilton (AUS)
Lennard Hofstede (NED)
Lennard Kämna (GER)
Wilco Kelderman (NED)
Sindre Skjøstad Lunke (NOR)
Sam Oomen (NED)
Tom Stamsnijder (NED)
Zico Waeytens (BEL)
