UAE Team Emirates line-up for the Vuelta a Espana 2017

The UAE Team Emirates has defined its 2017 Vuelta a España selection for the race that will start in Nìmes (France) on Saturday, 19th August, and will finish, as usual, in Madrid on Sunday the 10th of September.

“We have a good team, all the guys are in good form,” says sports director Simone Pedrazzini “The team’s captains will be Louis Meintjes and Rui Costa, who are aiming to get a final Top Ten, while they will be relying on Darwin Atapuma and Jan Polanc for the mountain stages and Sacha Modolo for the sprints, they will all be trying to get a stage win”.

Louis Meintjes: “I have been doing high altitude training in Andorra to prepare for the Vuelta a Espana. The goal is to fight for the GC but we will have to see how my body has recovered after the Tour de France effort.”

Rui Costa: “This will be my first Vuelta a Espana and I’m happy to ride in it. I want to live day by day without thinking specifically about the General Classification, enjoying every single stage. The third one will already be a good test to understand what kind of shape I’m in.”

La Vuelta a Espana (19 August – 10 September)

Rider Roster: Ait El Abdia Anass (Morocco), Atapuma Darwin (Colombia), Faria Da Costa Rui Alberto (Portugal),Meintjes Louis (South Africa), Modolo Sacha (Italy), Mohoric Matej (Slovenia), Niemiec Przemyslaw (Poland), Polanc Jan (Slovenia), Zurlo Federico (Italy).

Sports Directors: Simone Pedrazzini (Switzerland), Vicino Bruno (Italy)