UCI World Road Race champion Peter Sagan will prepare to defend his World title at Innsbruck by riding the forthcoming Vuelta a España, which starts on 25 August.
Sagan, who has won the World title the last three years, has said that he will be aiming to take stage wins at the Spanish Gran Tour. Rafal Majka has also been named as a starter for the BORA-hansgrohe team and the Polish rider will also be on the hunt for stage wins. Emanuel Buchmann will lead the team and the German will be aiming for a top ten in the final GC.
“I decided to race the Vuelta this year, as it fits perfectly into my preparations for the World Championships in Innsbruck,” said Sagan. “We’ll have to see how my crash at the Tour still affects me, but I feel I am on a good way back to my best.
“There are a lot of interesting stages at the Vuelta. We have a really strong team here in Spain, and a lot of cards to play when it comes to stage wins – and of course I’ll also try to take one as well.”
Sagan has raced the Vuelta three times previously and won three stages at his race debut in 2011, and also won a stage in 2015.
Also named on the BORA-hansgrohe team are Marcus Burghardt, Lukas Postlberger, Davide Formolo, Jay McCarthy and Michael Schwarzmann.
Ralph Denk, Team Manager – “I am very proud, that now is the time for Emanuel Buchmann to take on his first leadership at a Grand Tour. This is a special moment not just for him, but also for the team and myself, as he turned pro in my team as a promising talent four years ago. He is very well prepared and already had lots of strong results in 2018. We are expecting at least a top ten in the final GC, but depending on how the race develops, I think he can do even better than that. With Peter and Rafal we have two more cards to play when it comes to stage wins. We’ll have to see how Peter recovered from his crash in the Tour, but I am confident that we’ll have a very strong team out there.”
Emanuel Buchmann – “I think I am ready. It is an honor the lead such a big team like BORA – hansgrohe at a Grand Tour, but I’ll do everything to meet the teams’ expectations. I prepared very conscientiously and the whole season went well so far. This will be my biggest challenge so far as a cyclist, but I feel I am at my best. I did everything to arrive here in perfect shape, now we need a little bit of luck to come through the Vuelta without any crashes or other setbacks.”
