- The final Grand Tour of the year,
the Vuelta a Espana kicks off this weekend in Torrevieja.
And by now we've spoken about the big-name riders
to watch in our preview show
and who we think will be wearing the red jersey
come the final stage in Madrid.
Basically who we've given the kiss of death to.
So, I thought it'd be a great idea
to look at some of the up-and-coming young riders
who you should be keeping an eye on
and watching during this year's Vuelta.
But before I do, make sure you subscribe to GCN
if you haven't already and also click the little bell icon
so that you get a notification every time
we upload a video.
Including our Vuelta highlights
which we'll be doing during the race.
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First up is Tadej Pogacar.
The Slovenian from UAE Team Emirates,
might well be the youngest rider in the race
at just 20 years old.
But he's genuinely a podium contender.
He shot in our collective conscious last year
with a stunning win at the Tour de l'Avenir.
And that allowed him to join the World Tour for 2019.
And it didn't take him long to settle in
as back in February he won the Volta Algarve.
Pogacar backed that up with the GC win
at the Tour of California, and then the youth classification
at the Itzulia Basque Country and Tour of Slovenia.
Now, the big question hanging over the 20 year old
is, at such a young age, will he have the endurance
for a three week race?
Well, either way he's a genuinely exciting prospect
and he'll surely be challenging for the win
on some of the toughest summit finishes
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Sergio Higuita, the Higuita Monster as he's known,
may have only competed in two races
for EF Education First, but he did only join the team
at the end of May.
But he's already made a huge impact.
In the Tour of California,
he finished a very impressive 2nd place
after narrowly missing out on the Queen stage
at Mount Baldy after he took the final corner
a little bit too wide.
And then, in the tour of Pologne,
he finished in impressive 4th place
after some really strong and consistent riding.
In the Vuelta, Higuita will most likely ride
in support of Rigoberto Uran's GC campaign.
But you can expect him to be one of the last riders left
in the high mountains with Uran, along with the team's
other Colombian climbing sensation, Daniel Martinez.
(relaxed electronic music)
Fabio Jakobsen, the 22 year old sprinter
from Deceuninck-Quick-Step has had
an incredible season in 2019.
He won his first race of the year,
the stage one of the Volta Algarve,
and then he won his second Scheldeprijs,
a race that he's only competed in twice,
two out of two, fair play.
And then he topped that off with a win
in the Dutch National Road Race championships as well.
The Vuelta will be Jakobsen's first ever Grand Tour
and he'll be up against some tough sprinting opposition
in the form of Sam Bennett, Fernando Gaviria,
and the on form Luka Mezgec.
But he will be able to count on
a super strong lead out from Quick-Step.
But, should he lose the lead out train,
his incredible victory on stage three
of the Tour of Turkey shows
he's more than capable of fending for himself.
(relaxed electronic music)
Sepp Kuss.
This will be the young American's second Grand Tour
of the season, having been drafted in last minute
to Jumbo-Visma's Giro squad
to replace an injured Robert Gesink.
You can expect him to resume his role
as one of Primoz Roglic's key mountain lieutenants.
And, with Jumbo-Visma looking like the team to beat
at this year's Vuelta,
you can expect to see a lot of Kuss.
However we hope that he gets the chance
to race for himself on a few stages
and perhaps show some of that scintillating form
he displayed at the Tour of Utah last year.
Where he won no less than three stages
and took the overall win.
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James Knox.
The 23 year old Cumbrian climber
could be a really exciting prospect at this year's Vuelta.
His Deceuninck-Quick-Step team is set up
for sprints and stage wins,
meaning that Knox could have free reign
to target the stages he wants,
which will invariably be in the high mountains.
Now, he first displayed his climbing prowess
and talent back in the 2017 Tour l'Avenir
where he took a 2nd place on stage seven
behind no less than Egan Bernal.
Aside from the disappointment of the Giro d'Italia
where he was forced to withdraw on stage 13
because of a knee injury,
Knox has had a quietly impressive season
with a string of top 10s in World Tour stage races.
And these results have clearly impressed the team
as they've renewed his contract for a further two years.
And you can expect him to repay the faith
the team has in him with some good results
on some of the hardest mountain stages.
(relaxed electronic music)
Mark Padun.
Now, Bahrain-Merida have had to change their plans
at the last minute for the Vuelta a Espana
after Domenico Pozzovivo, their main GC hope,
suffered a nasty crash in training
and will now miss the race.
They've shifted their primary focus
to stage wins and are also taking the young Slovenian
as a potential GC result.
Padun has had a quiet year through suffering
from tendonitis in his knee but this hasn't stopped him
picking up some great results.
In just his second race back from injury
he won his national time trial championships
and recently he won the overall
at the Adriatica Ionica Race.
And all this means that he has to be added to the list
of great young GC hopes who seek to challenge
the established GC riders at the Vuelta.
(relaxed electronic music)
Oscar Rodriguez.
Now it's fair to say that, prior to stage 13
of last year's Vuelta,
not many people had heard of Oscar Rodriguez.
However, that all changed on the brutal summit finish
up to La Camperona.
Where, aged just 23,
Rodriguez caught, and then dropped,
both Rafal Majka and Dylan Teuns
to take the first professional win of his career.
It's been a quiet year for Rodriguez
with few big results to talk about
until the Vuelta a Burgos.
He came a very close 2nd place
behind team Ineos's Ivan Sosa
and finished ahead of the 2019 Giro winner, Richard Carapaz.
Now, time will tell whether or not he decides
to target the GC or stage wins,
he certainly looks to be coming into form at the right time.
Right, so that's my list.
It's by no means conclusive
and I've probably missed off loads of amazing young riders
so let me know down in the comments section
who I should've included and why.
I look forward to reading your comments.
And also, head over to the GCN shop
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And if you haven't already you can watch
our Vuelta preview show which is down here.
And don't forget, we're going to have Vuelta highlights
daily on the GCN Racing channel.