Arkéa-B&B Hotels eyes GC but brings eight attackers to Vuelta in hunt for stage glory

“The main goal is a stage victory for the Arkéa-B&B Hotels team in this Vuelta a España,” team manager Didier Rous is clear about his team's ambitions. “Our young riders will also be ambitious; these three weeks will teach them the qualities of a Grand Tour, allowing them to develop and mature. They have the means to perform well and also to win a stage. We will have to be aggressive. We will have to do our best and enjoy it.”

In addition to stage wins, the French team is also keeping an eye on the GC. “We can also hope for a good overall classification with Cristián Rodríguez, who has already finished 13th twice in the Tour of Spain; why shouldn't he be able to finish in the top 10 this year?” Rous wonders aloud.

“The Vuelta a España is Rodríguez's race,” the team boss praises his rider. “He has already finished thirteenth twice in the GC. He can repeat that performance. He will be our leader, and I even think he is mentally and physically capable of performing even better this season. Cristián has improved in both areas this season and has also matured.”

In addition to Rodríguez, Arkéa-B&B Hotels is counting on another local rider, Raúl García Pierna. "He really wants to ride the Vuelta, his national grand tour. He is in the same dynamic as Cristián and has the same ambition. He is motivated, and I even think he will perform better in this grand tour than in the Tour de France, a race in which he already performed very well. Raúl is a rider who needs to race, and riding two Grand Tours in a row will do him good. His wish, and ours, is that he wins at least one stage."

Anyone else? In any case, Jenthe Biermans, who will travel to the start in Turin with a clear goal in mind. “He will be tasked with participating in the bunch sprints planned for this edition of the Vuelta. But he will not limit himself to this one role; in big breakaways in slightly hillier stages, he will also be able to play his part when the pure sprinters have been dropped and the finish is in a smaller group,” explains Rous.

With Victor Guernalec, Pierre Thierry, Louis Rouland, and Léandre Lozouet, the team will have four riders at the start who will be riding their first three-week race, while 23-year-old Alessandro Verre will be competing in his first Grand Tour after three appearances in the Giro d'Italia.

Cristian Rodríguez