Jayco AlUla hoping for Vuelta success with an inexperienced team led by Brit Paul Double

Jayco AlUla has announced its roster for the Vuelta a España. The Australian team will head to the start in Monaco with an inexperienced squad and will not be aiming for the general classification. Stage wins are the goal, and they’ll be pursuing them with no fewer than four deubtants, led by Britsish rider Paul Double.

One rider with plenty of Vuelta experience is Koen Bouwman, who made his Grand Tour debut ten years ago in Spain. Riding for LottoNL-Jumbo, he finished 123rd overall. He rode the Vuelta a España three more times, but was considerably less successful than in the Giro d’Italia, where he once finished 12th overall, but more importantly, claimed two stage victories and won the mountains jersey.

However, Jayco AlUla’s team leader will not be Bouwman, but Paul Double. The British climber will be riding only his second Grand Tour, despite being 30 years old. He made his WorldTour debut last year with the Australian team, winning a stage and the overall title at the Tour of Slovakia, among other achievements, and also claimed his first WorldTour victory—a stage win and the yellow jersey—at the Tour of Guangxi.

"I'm really looking forward to lining up with GreenEDGE at the start of the Vuelta. It will be my second Grand Tour, and hopefully, with everything I learned last year, I can achieve even more success,” Double says on the team’s website. “I’ve regained my form in recent races, so I hope to take advantage of every opportunity that comes my way. It’s definitely going to be a tough few weeks, but I’m looking forward to racing in Spain.”

Sprinters will not be taking Jayco AlUla to Spain. Jasha Sütterlin, along with Bouwman, is the most experienced rider: this will be his fifth Vuelta. In addition, Finlay Pickering will be aiming for stage wins in the hills during his second edition, but the rest of the roster consists of rookies, including Asbjørn Hellemose, Rudy Porter, Hamish McKenzie, and the Italian Alessandro Covi. Four of them are riding their very first Grand Tour.

"We're heading to the Vuelta this year with the goal of winning stages," says team director David McPartland. "We have a young and highly motivated team for the final Grand Tour of the season. Many riders will be making their debut in the race, which provides extra motivation, and we’re curious to see what they can achieve. Hopefully, there will be many stages with breakaways in the final meters, and we definitely want to seize every possible opportunity to get the most out of this race and end the season in style.”