{"id":84103,"date":"2025-08-20T16:40:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T16:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/84103\/"},"modified":"2025-08-20T16:40:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T16:40:13","slug":"carapaz-gee-out-pedersen-pidcock-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/84103\/","title":{"rendered":"Carapaz, Gee Out; Pedersen, Pidcock In"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/a> start list saw some surprise shakeups this week in a flurry of team roster reveals.<\/p>\n

All-attacking Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz<\/a> and Canadian favorite Derek Gee are out. GC threat Giulio Ciccone<\/a> has decided to hunt stages. And Tom Pidcock<\/a> has doubled down on his classification ambition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The news from EF Education-EasyPost that Carapaz would not be at the Italian start on August 23 is the most race-shifting shock.<\/p>\n

Carapaz missed the Tour de France<\/a> with a gastro infection and was expected to return for an all-out push on La Vuelta.<\/p>\n

However, Carapaz hasn\u2019t found the training consistency to hit prime form. The 32-year-old has decided to pause his comeback until the Kigali road worlds next month.<\/p>\n

EF Education-EasyPost instead brings a rabble of stage-hunters led by Estaban Chaves and featuring former U.S. champion Sean Quinn.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Gee was being touted as a top-5 contender for the Vuelta after he hit fourth overall this May at the Giro d\u2019Italia. \u201cGee-C\u201d was a surprise omission from Israel-Premier Tech\u2019s selection.<\/p>\n

Velo has contacted IPT to ask for detail as to why he was not selected.<\/p>\n

[A provisional Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a start list for all teams can be seen at bottom of post \u2013 ed.]<\/p>\n

Carapaz and Gee out, Ciccone shelves GC
\n\"\"Carapaz hasn\u2019t found the training consistency to race the Vuelta. (Photo: Massimo Valicchia\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Carapaz\u2019s withdrawal condenses the GC battle to a likely brawl between Jonas Vingegaard and UAE Emirates-XRG\u2019s troublesome tandem<\/a> Jo\u00e3o Almeida and Juan Ayuso.<\/p>\n

Lildl-Trek\u2019s top climber Ciccone revealed this week he won\u2019t be getting involved in that super team battle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to target the GC. There\u2019s perhaps a chance in Poga\u010dar\u2019s absence, but it\u2019s not something I\u2019ve ever achieved,\u201d Ciccone told Gazzetta dello Sport<\/a>. \u201cRather than chase something that might never happen, I\u2019d rather go for something that really suits me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like winning. Putting your arms in the air is 10,000 times better than going for the GC,\u201d Ciccone said. \u201cIf I had to choose between a podium place in Madrid and the polka dot jersey, there\u2019s no doubt which I\u2019d pick.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor, Tiberi, Pidcock chase classification dreams
\n\"TomPidcock is chasing GC on a course well suited to his attacking punch. (Photo: Dario Belingheri\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Bahrain-Victorious, Jayco-AlUla, and Q36.5 Pro Cycling also posted their Vuelta 8s this week.<\/p>\n

Antonio Tiberi is on a mission to land on his first grand tour podium with Bahrain Victorious, while Ben O\u2019Connor, Eddie Dunbar, and Chris Harper form a strong triple-threat for Jayco-AlUla.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor is expected to rattle around the top end of the classification after he rode in red for 13 days at last year\u2019s race.<\/p>\n

Q36.5 Pro Cycling rubber-stamped Pidcock\u2019s classification ambition in its team statement on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The Brit said he\u2019s older, wiser, and hoping to place high after his disappointing run at the Giro d\u2019Italia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe learned from the Giro and had more time for thorough preparation this time, with an altitude camp and the Arctic Race of Norway,\u201d Pidcock said. \u201cI\u2019m curious to see what I can do in the general classification.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ineos Grenadiers and Soudal-Quick Step have not yet confirmed their teams.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more than likely that GC hopefuls Egan Bernal and Mikel Landa will be added to the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a start list when they do.<\/p>\n

Pedersen poised for points jersey rampage
\n\"PedersenCan anybody stop Pedersen in the points classification? (Photo: LUCA BETTINI\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

At the other end of the race, there\u2019s one name that\u2019s expected to drive the narrative: Mads Pedersen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lidl-Trek confirmed the dynamite Dane is back hunting his second points jersey of the year after he already crushed everybody<\/a> and won the Maglia Azzura at the Giro d\u2019Italia.<\/p>\n

Alpecin-Deceuninck has not yet confirmed its team. However, it\u2019s expected Jasper Philipsen will lead the Belgian mob after he crashed out of the Tour de France.<\/p>\n

The super-speedster will likely be Pedersen\u2019s biggest problem in the hunt for the points jersey.<\/p>\n

Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a start list as of August 20<\/p>\n

\"VueltaCourtesy ProCyclingStats.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“], “filter”: { “nextExceptions”: “img, blockquote, div”, “nextContainsExceptions”: “img, blockquote, a.btn, a.o-button”} }”> The Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a start…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":84104,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,50277,5900,50278,49077,82,43201,32801],"class_list":["post-84103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-giulio-ciccone","tag-jonas-vingegaard","tag-mads-pedersen","tag-richard-carapaz","tag-sports","tag-tom-pidcock","tag-vuelta-a-espana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}