UAE Team Emirates have unveiled their eight-man lineup for the 2024 Vuelta a Espana, and whilst there is no Tadej Pogacar this time around, Grand Tour leadership has fallen into the very capable hands of Adam Yates and Joao Almeida.
Almeida and Yates have already shown how successful they can be when working together as a dual leadership. Earlier this year at the Tour de Suisse, Yates took overall victory ahead of Almeida with pretty much every general classification stage finishing in a one-two finish between the pair as each took notable mountain top victories.
“Obviously the Tour went perfectly to plan, personally and as a team I think we rode it really well and got the result we wanted. I’ve taken a bit of rest since then and built up for the Vuelta which was one of the big goals for the latter part of the year," says Tour de Suisse winner Yates, in conversation with UAE Team Emirates' official website.
"Myself and Joao had a good partnership going at Suisse and I think if we’re both in top shape or either one of us is in contention we’ll be ready to make the best of it," the Brit continues optimistically. "The team we have here is quality and I think and hope we’ll be fighting for big results over the next weeks.”
For Almeida meanwhile, there is extra incentive to impress at this Vuelta a Espana, with the Grand Tour starting in his home country of Portgual. "To begin a Grand Tour in Portugal is a dream," he assesses. "I am super happy to start at Lisbon and pass my hometown. Having the support from home crowds and my family and friends will be special and maybe a once in a lifetime opportunity."
"The Tour de France was a big step in my career I think and I’m really proud of what we achieved there," Almeida concludes. "Now at the Vuelta I’m stepping into a leaders role alongside Adam and given the good understanding between us and all the teammates I think it’s going to be a super race for us. I’m really excited to get going.”
UAE Emirates pour #LaVuelta24 : Joao Almeida, Filippo Baroncini, Isaac Del Toro, Brandon McNulty, Pavel Sivakov, Marc Soler, Jay Vine, Adam Yates. Juan Ayuso est finalement absent, 1er Grand Tour pour Del Toro. Almeida et Yates se partageront le leadership.
