Sastre and Hushovd lead Cervélo in the Vuelta
The Vuelta a Espana begins on Sunday and the week has now begun for speculation to become certainty. A number of announcements have already been made Monday alone, including the Cervélo Test Team releasing their nine-rider line-up for the second most important cycling race in the world, the third and final Grand Tour.
Cervélo will be led by Carlos Sastre, 2008 Tour de France winner, and Thor Hushovd, two-time Tour de France green jersey winner. Sastre is aiming for a podium finish with a record of five consecutive top-five finishes in his last five times competing in the Vuelta. This will be his final race with Cervélo as he has signed a deal with Team Geox for the 2011 season. Hushovd will, as usual, be targeting stage wins and looking ahead to the World Championships.
Team Footon-Servetto also announced their line-up today, designed for stage wins and led by Rafael Valls and Manuel Cardosa, who have both shown strong stage-race forms this season, in the Tour de France and the Tour Down Under, respectively.
Oscar Freire confirmed that he would be riding for Rabobank’s Vuelta squad. He normally takes it easy at the Spanish Grand Tour in anticipation of the World Championships, but this year he plans to push a bit more strongly. He intends (and is expected) to be captain of the Spanish team at the Worlds.
“This time there are two weeks between the end of the Vuelta and the Worlds,” said Freire. “I might end the race. Everything depends on how my development goes. The times that the team has ridden for me at Worlds, I have always responded well. I am not infallible. But on a course like this, which is good for me, if I am going well and that gives me the confidence, I think I can respond. I hope the Worlds team will gamble on me.”
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