Watch all 21 stages of La Vuelta a España, LIVE and FREE on SBS and SBS On Demand. The Spanish Grand Tour is famous for its impossibly steep climbs and passionate fans, and the 2022 edition is set to thrill audiences around Australia.
The organizers of La Vuelta have chosen the teams that will take part in the 77th edition of the Spanish Grand Tour. La Vuelta 2022 will start on Friday the 19th of August and finish on Sunday the 11th of September, departing Utrecht for a foreign start from the Netherlands and finish in Spanish capital Madrid.
The WorldTour teams all receive invites as per the UCI rules on the three premier Grand Tours, the Tour de France, the Vuelta a España and the Giro d'Italia.
Alpecin-Fenix (BEL) and Arkéa-Samsic (FRA), leaders in the 2021 classification of UCI ProTeams were invited due to their position at the top of the standings at the end of 2021 in the ProTour, the level down from the WorldTour.
In addition to these 20 teams, and following the request made by the organisers of La Vuelta to increase the number of teams, which was supported by the Professional Cycling Council, the UCI Management Committee has allowed a one-off relaxation of the UCI Regulations, allowing the maximum of number of riders to increase to 184.
That allowed organisers to invite an extra wildcard team, meaning that there will be three additional Spanish squads making up the teams on the startline at the Spanish Grand Tour. Those will be Euskaltel – Euskadi, Equipo Kern Pharma and Burgos - BH.
While Equipo Kern Pharma will be making their Vuelta debut, Euskaltel – Euskadi and Burgos - BH have a history at the race of animating early breakaways and general attacking riding. Notable Spanish absentees from the race are Caja-Rural, the Basque squad has punched about its weight in recent years and Australian fans will note that the team was where Australian Nick Schultz got his springboard into the WorldTour.
Stars of the sport have already committed to the Vuelta, with Tour de France two-time winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), fellow young phenomenon Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) and Australian podium finisher Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) among the riders to have already confirmed their participation, while Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) will also be likely to grace the start in search of a fourth successive overall victory.
Watch all 21 stages of La Vuelta a España, LIVE and FREE on SBS and SBS On Demand. The Spanish Grand Tour is famous for its impossibly steep climbs and passionate fans, and the 2022 edition is set to thrill audiences around Australia.
The course for the Vuelta a Espana 2022 Source: Unipublic
