Colombian Egan Bernal will lead the mighty Ineos

Colombian Egan Bernal, winner of the 2019 Tour de France and the 2021 Giro d’Italia, will lead the Ineos Grenadiers in the 69th edition of the Vuelta Ciclista a Andalucía-Ruta del Sol, which will take place from February 15 to 19, in a team that will also include Carlos Rodríguez from Granada, current champion of Spain and fourth overall in 2022.

The British team, as reported by the organization in a statement, will also include the winner of the 2020 Giro d’Italia, Londoner Tao Geoghegan Hart, and former Spanish road cycling champion Omar Fraile, winner of a stage in the Giro and the Tour. , as well as a two-time mountain grand prix winner at the Vuelta a España.

The Ineos Grenadiers line-up for the Vuelta a Andalucía will be completed by the Italian Salvatore Puccio, the British Connor Swift and the Ecuadorian Jonathan Narváez.

Egan Bernal, 26, became the first Colombian to win the Tour de France at the age of 21 and it is now a year since he suffered a serious accident while training north of his hometown, Bogotá, that shocked the racing world .

A little over a year later, the Colombian cyclist has recovered from the many injuries he suffered and is ready to do battle on the roads, in addition to the fact that his presence will be an incentive for the Granada-born runner Carlos Rodríguez in his career at home.

The man from Almuñécar arrives after the year of his international emergence, wearing the jersey of the national champion and after achieving an important stage victory in Itzulia, as well as shining in the Vuelta a España 2022.

Two fourth places, on the verge of climbing the final podium of the Vuelta a Andalucía-Ruta del Sol in two participations, put him directly as favorite at the Andalusian round, where last year he was only 19 seconds behind the winner , Dutchman Wout Poels, and four podium finishers.

In the triumvirate of ‘leaders’ of the British formation for the Ruta del Sol, the winner of the 2020 Giro d’Italia also stands out, the Englishman Geoghegan Hart, who will debut in the Andalusian race with the aim of being among the leaders after a complicated 2022.

With stage wins at the Giro d’Italia, the Brit is an all-terrain rider who can get over the high mountains and excels on the flat, and will be a key man for his team should the other two leaders be unavailable. their day at its most difficult stage.