Wout van Aert will join Sepp Kuss and Cian Uijtdebroeks at Vuelta a Espana in Visma lead

Team Visma | Lease a Bike is working on winning the Tour de France, a difficult task, but part of the team is naturally already focusing ahead. Wout van Aert had the Vuelta a España originally in his schedule and almost certainly the Belgian will take part in the final Grand Tour of the season.

The Spanish race starts on the 17th of August in Lisbon and is realistically the best suited Grand Tour for the Belgian, with plenty climbing from start to finish including the sprint stages. Last year, the startlist lacked true stars in the sprints as well, which may open things up for him to battle for victories in the bunch sprints. Van Aert has endured an unusual season and although not in his best form, is racing the Tour de France where he is supporting Jonas Vingegaard but also shooting his shot in the sprints.

After the Olympic Games, a Vuelta debut is very much on the table. He won't be joined by Jonas Vingegaard who is expecting a child around the same time as the event. In the lineup should be defending champion Sepp Kuss who was pulled out of the Tour lineup after contracting Covid-19 and not being able to show good form in the run-up to the race. Cian Uijtdebroeks will also be there, the Belgian is testing himself as Grand Tour rider but had to abandon his main goal of the season back at the Giro d'Italia. Wilco Kelderman is the last of four riders that Het Laatste Nieuws reports are virtually confirmed to tackle the Vuelta.

In the eight-man lineup we also expect to see Steven Kruijswijk and Dylan van Baarle take to the start after injuries took them out of the initial Tour de France lineup; Briton Ben Tulett who was brought to the team this season and experienced road captain Robert Gesink.