João Almeida leads UAE Team Emirates' mixed squad at Vuelta a Burgos

With Tadej Pogacar announcing his absence from the Vuelta a Espana, Portuguese stage-racer João Almeida will have the opportunity to lead UAE Team Emirates for a second time in a Grand Tour this year, and he will be preparing himself in the Vuelta a Burgos.

Being the final Spanish stage-race before the Vuelta, many of the names that will be contesting it will be racing this week against each other, with two mountainous stages to test the riders' form after a long period of absence - for many - from competition. After abandoning the Giro with Covid-19, Almeida briefly returned at the national championships to take the road race title, and at the Clasica San Sebastian where he did not complete the race.

Here, the race will be far from ideal to 23-year old, however it will be an important step. He will have the support of compatriot Rui Costa. Fernando Gaviria will be targeting the sprints, with Matteo Trentin also an option after he was forced to miss the Tour de France with a Covid-19 infection. The team is completed by Andrés Ardila, Yousif Mirza and new signing Oliver Knight who is currently on a stint as a stagiaire with the team.

UAE Team Emirates for Vuelta a Burgos: João Almeida, Andrés Ardila, Rui Costa, Fernando Gaviria, Oliver Knight, Yousif Mirza and Matteo Trentin.