UAE Team Emirates will be racing this year’s Vuelta a Espana with two team captains. The team announced it has selected a strong duo of Joao Almeida and Juan Ayuso to spearhead its roster and aim for top spots in the general classification. This year’s Vuelta a Espana will commence in Torino, Italy on August 23, before continuing on the roads of France and Spain.

The early crash of Joao Almeida in stage nine of this year’s Tour de France has allowed for the Portuguese general classification specialist to recover from a fracture to his rib cage while reloading his energy reserves and building his form for this year’s La Vuelta, which is the third Grand Tour of the season.

Almeida took part in this year’s Tour de France as a super lieutenant for team captain Tadej Pogacar after impressively having secured general classification wins in both this year’s Tour de Suisse and Tour de Romandie. Almeida also won Itzulia Basque Country and secured stage victories in two of the races. The route of this year’s Vuelta a Espana suits the 26-year-old rider very well.

“To start the Vuelta as a team leader is a special feeling for me, especially with the form I’ve shown this season,” Almeida explained to Roadcycling.com. “Recovering from the Tour crash has been a smooth process for me and my sensations while training have been good. I am confident we can achieve something big with the group around us,” Almeida added.

Adding to the powerful roster of UAE Team Emirates in Vuelta a Espana 2025, Spaniard Juan Ayuso will join Almeida in a leadership role in the race. Ayuso showed great form and consistency by winning this year’s Tirreno-Adriatico after which he finished second in Volta Ciclista a Catalunya. 22-year-old Ayuso then took a leadership role for UAE Team Emirates in the Giro d’Italia but found teammate Isaac del Toro to be the stronger teammate in the race.

“The Vuelta is a very special race for me as it is my home race. I’ve been training well and am one hundred percent focused on delivering a good race performance for my team,” UAE Team Emirates co-captain Ayuso told Roadcycling.com. “Being from Spain I’ll be racing on home soil, and I’ll certainly give everything in me to make it count to achieve a good result for myself and for the team.” 

Joining Ayuso and Almeida in the UAE Team Emirates line-up for this year’s Vuelta a Espana will be Mikkel Bjerg, who was surprisingly left out of the team’s Tour de France roster. In addition to the Dane, Marc Soler, Jay Vine, Felix Grossschartner, Domen Novak, and Ivo Oliveira.

Mikkel Bjerg will deliver powerful support for Ayuso and Almeida, while also being able to taget time trials. Marc Soler and Jay Vine are valuable climbing specialists. Felix Grossschartner is a multi-talent, who is valuable in multiple types of terrain. Ivo Oliveira and Domen Novak will be in the Vuelta to gain experience and help their teammates achieve their objectives in the race.

The use of a co-leadership duo in the Vuelta can offer additional strategic opportunities while also bringing an increased risk of team fragmentation as riders compete for future leadership roles in the team. Ayuso is rumored to be considering moving to a different team from next season after alleged internal conflicts within the team.

Tadej Pogacar will not be taking part in the 2025 Vuelta a Espana for UAE Team Emirates. The Slovenian World Champion will instead focus on Canadian races while recovering from the exhausting challenge of securing his fourth Tour de France Champion title. Pogacar will be participating in Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec as well as Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal before racing the classics of the Fall season.

“After such a demanding Tour, together with the team I decided it was best for me to take a break. The Vuelta is naturally a race I would love to participate in again as I have amazing memories from the 2019 edition, but my body is now telling me to take a rest phase,” Pogacar explained.

UAE Team Emirates roster for Vuelta a Espana 2025:

Joao Almeida

Juan Ayuso

Marc Soler

Mikkel Bjerg

Jay Vine

Felix Grossschartner

Domen Novak

Ivo Oliveira

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete coverage from the 2025 Vuelta a Espana.