Michael Matthews will lead the squad as he searches for his first victory in the Team BikeExchange colours since switching back to the team at the start of the 2021 season. His closest placing was on the opening stage of the Tour de France, where he finished first of the main group behind the lone attacker Julian Alaphilippe, who claimed the first yellow jersey of the French Grand Tour.
He battled to second in the green jersey points standings and kept the race for that competition alive into the final stage on the Champs Elysees. Nonetheless, a win has eluded the Australian, something that he's looking to put right at the Vuelta a España.
“I’m feeling ready for the Vuelta, I recovered well after a hard Tour de France and now, after many close calls at the Tour with second and third places, I am motivated to try and get on the top step at the Vuelta," said Matthews. "I’ve won a few stages here before and it’s a Grand Tour that I really enjoy.
"We have a strong team; we saw at the Tour that Luka Mezgec was in good form so I am happy to be lining up with him again and it will be good to race with Rob Stannard too and have him alongside us for the fast sprint stages.
"I think there are a few stages that look like they should suit us, for sprinting but also in the climbs. It’s really nice to see Lucas Hamilton back racing after he was unlucky crashing out of the Tour."
Hamilton has finished top-ten at every WorldTour race he has completed this season, with the notable exception of the Tour de France, where he fell off the GC standings in the first week, then crashed out of competition, suffering a separated AC joint in a Stage 13 fall. His only race since was at the Tokyo Olympics in the road race, where he finished 71st.
“I was devastated having to withdraw from the Tour de France after crashing, so this makes me even more motivated and excited to start the Vuelta," said Hamilton. "It will be my first time racing the Vuelta, I’ve heard it’s a really great Grand Tour and having looked at the stages, the second half of the race looks really hard with lots of climbing, so hopefully we can have a really good tour, a strong overall showing and get our hands in the air.
"The team we have is really strong and really well balanced and I think everyone is super motivated for this final Grand Tour of the season. I am ready and can’t wait for Saturday to get started and to make my Vuelta debut in Burgos.”
Hamilton will have a strong array of climbers accompanying him on the Team BikeExchange roster, with Mikel Nieve, Damien Howson and Nick Schultz all capable over the hills and with stage-winning pedigree.
Robert Stannard and Luka Mezgec will likely be tasked with supporting Matthews in the sprints, but have a similar mix of climbing, sprinting and classics abilities to the Canberran fast man.
Finally, Andrey Zeits will be competing in his eighth Vuelta a España, the Ukrainian veteran likely to supporting the efforts of his teammates on the harsh climbing stages.
from the Vuelta a Espana LIVE, FREE and in HD from August 14 on SBS Viceland, SBS On Demand and the SKODA Tour Tracker.
