The Vuelta a España is the third and final Grand Tour of the 2019 summer race season, and the Spanish race always provides an exciting finale to the year for GC specialists and big opportunities for many riders to grab their carrier chances.
The 2019 route for the Vuelta a España has been described by the organizers as even "more spicy", with a depart in Alicante and a brief detour into France as well as three brand new summit finishes.
There will be up to eight summit finishes in total and two time trials.
The race has Costa Blanca start, and the province will play home to three stages, including an opening team time trial in Torrevieja.
The second time trial will be between 36km long, and comes in the second week in Pau, France.
Vladimir Miholjević and Rik Verbrugghe, TMB sport directors, David Bailey, TBM head of performance and Paolo Artuso, TBM trainer have chosen a fine-tuned lineup that can give their 100% and more on their individual basis and deliver their all for the image of Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team.
The common thoughts of Miholjević, Verbrugghe, Bailey and Artuso is: "The selected team includes a mix of climbers and sprinters to match the varied stages in this year’s edition of the La Vuelta 2019.
With the unfortunate loss of Domenico Pozzovivo following his recent accident the GC objective has become a secondary priority over stage wins.
For the sprint stages we have Phil Bauhaus with support from Heinrich Haussler, Luka Pibernik and Yukiya Arashiro. For the mountainous stages Dylan Teuns and Mark Padun will take opportunities for stages wins with support from Herman Pernsteiner and Domen Novak.
Mark Padun will also be team’s GC rider for this race. It’s a great opportunity for a young, talented rider like Mark who is showing good condition and a willingness to take such responsibility after his recent race performances at Adriatica Ionica and San Sebastián. All together we bring a young, talented team looking to gain more experience in Grand Tour racing as a part of their development for the future".
BAHRAIN MERIDA Pro Cycling Team lineup for La Vuelta 2019:
Yukiya Arashiro / Phil Bauhaus / Dylan Teuns / Heinrich Haussler / Mark Padun / Domen Novak / Hermann Pernsteiner / Luka Pibernik
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