With just one day to go until the 2019 Vuelta a España gets under way in Salinas de Torrevieja, Cyclingnews takes a look at ten riders to watch at this year's race.
We've already ranked the biggest favourites for the overall victory, but with 176 riders taking the start on Saturday, there will be far more than just the general classification to track over the next three weeks. From sprinters and stage hunters, to climbing specialists and a number of promising young riders, there are plenty of intriguing names to follow. Here are ten of them to keep an eye on at the final Grand Tour of 2019.
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)
There should be no real pressure or expectation on a 20-year-old starting his first Grand Tour. And yet… so good has Tadej Pogačar been in his neo-pro season, it's difficult not to get a little excited.
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After winning the Tour de l'Avenir last year, the Slovenian has made the jump to WorldTour level seem like the smallest of baby steps. A stage win and the overall title at the Volta ao Algarve in February was followed in May by a stage and the overall at the Tour of California in May, while his sixth-place finish at the Tour of the Basque Country, widely regarded as one of the hardest week-long stage races, was a remarkable result in its own right.
The Tour de l'Avenir title comes with a degree of expectation and attention, but that has now been taken to new levels. As such, it's only natural to wonder if the usual Grand Tour debutant's mantra of being 'there to learn' applies to Pogačar. Fabio Aru is the nominal team leader at UAE, but it's still not clear if he's back to his old self after his artery surgery, and Pogačar could emerge as something more than a mere understudy, and we could learn more about his potential as a Grand Tour rider than anticipated.
UAE's own team manager Joxean 'Matxin' Fernandez summed it up neatly recently: "The choice was also made that the talented Tadej Pogačar would make his debut after proving this year that he is not only a contender for the future, but for the present, too."
Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe)
Daniel Martínez (EF Education First)
Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Ineos)
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)
Óscar Rodríguez (Euskadi Basque Country-Murias)
Pierre Latour (AG2R La Mondiale)
Louis Meintjes (Dimension Data)
Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma)
Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal)
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/10-riders-to-watch-at-the-2019-vuelta-a-espana
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