World champion Peter Sagan has been confirmed in Bora-Hansgrohe's team for the 2018 Vuelta a España.
Sagan will be in search of stage wins along with Rafal Majka, who had attempted a GC challenge at the Tour de France in July before falling out of contention. German Emanuel Buchmann will lead the team's overall challenge in Spain.
Three-time world champion Sagan will use the race a preparation for the difficult climbing test in the World Championships road race in Innsbruck-Tirol in September, where he'll try to claim an historic fourth consecutive title.
The 28-year-old has already had a successful season, winning Paris-Roubaix for the first time before taking three stage wins and a sixth green jersey at the Tour de France in July.
Sagan crashed on stage 17 of the Tour to Col du Portet and struggled through the remainder of the race with injuries he sustained. He returned to racing at the European Championships road race last Sunday, but was forced to pull abandon with 80km to go after again struggling with injuries.
He'll race at the EuroEyes Cyclassics one-day race in Germany on Sunday before heading to Spain for the Vuelta the following weekend. Sagan said he is beginning to feel back to his best but remained cautious of how his Tour injuries could still affect him.
“I decided to race the Vuelta this year, as it fits perfectly into my preparations for the World Championships in Innsbruck," Sagan said.
"We’ll have to see how my crash at the Tour still affects me, but I feel I am on a good way back to my best. There are a lot of interesting stages at the Vuelta. We have a really strong team here in Spain, and a lot of cards to play when it comes to stage wins - and of course I’ll also try to take one as well.”
Sagan has not raced the Vuelta since 2015, when a collision with a race motorbike forced him to abandon with injury before stage nine of the race.
This year's Vuelta feature nine summit finishes through the three weeks. With only a few sprint stages on offer, Sagan will face competition from the likes of Elia Viviani (Quick-Step) and Phil Bauhaus (Sunweb) in the bunch finishes.
Bora-Hansgrohe team for Vuelta a España 2018
BURGHARDT Marcus
MAJKA Rafał
PÖSTLBERGER Lukas
BUCHMANN Emanuel
SAGAN Peter
SCHWARZMANN Michael
FORMOLO Davide
MCCARTHY Jay
Thank you for reading 10 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
-
In celebration of Peter Sagan, cycling's rock and roll frontmanAs the three-time world champion is set to call time on his career in the WorldTour at the end of 2023, we thought we would take a look back at the glory days
-
After a 'frustrating' 2022, Sam Bennett targets green at the Tour de France again
Irish Bora-Hansgrohe sprinter laments missed opportunities in 2022 due to injuries and illness, but will try again next year
-
Wout van Aert moots building gravel world championships into 2023 programme
Belgian rider says gravel racing has a ‘great future’ as he considers worlds participation next year
-
Peter Sagan to ride the UCI Gravel World Championships to ‘give back to the people’
‘I still have much more to give’ says Sagan on the decision to head to Italy for the competition
-
Peter Sagan has day to forget at E-MTB Worlds, crashing twice
The Slovakian came off his bike and finished in 16th
-
‘Lesson one, never give up’: Ski mountaineer turned cyclist Anton Palzer on stepping out of his comfort zone
A film released by Red Bull depicts the German rider's journey from ski champion to professional rider
-
Vuelta a España 2022: Sam Bennett makes it two in a row with win on stage three
Bora-Hansgrohe's Irish rider outsprints Mads Pedersen and Dan McLay in Breda, Edoardo Affini in red
-
Peter Sagan set to compete in the electric mountain bike World Championships
TotalEnergies rider will compete in competition in Les Gets, France in late-August
