Fabio Aru has been confirmed as Astana‘s leader for the upcoming 2017 Vuelta a España which will start in Nîmes, France on August 19.

Aru, who won the Vuelta in 2015, will lead the team after a good performance at the Tour de France where he finished fifth overall and spent two days in the yellow jersey.

The Italian rider has had a tumultuous season, which was expected to centre around the Giro d’Italia, until a knee injury put him out of his home Grand Tour and forced him to focus on the Tour.

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The addition of Aru to the Vuelta a España start list makes for a very strong line-up for the final Grand Tour of 2017, with Chris Froome (Team Sky), Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale), Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), and both Simon and Adam Yates (Orica-Scott) expected to take to the start line.

The full Astana line-up will be announced in due course, but will certainly included young Colombian Grand Tour prospect Miguel Angel Lopez, as well as Luis Leon Sanchez and Pello Bilbao.