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The Vuelta a España (August 25th - September 16th) moment has come for Bianchi and Team LottoNL-Jumbo. The World Tour squad will line up in Malaga on August 25th, looking to continue their positive stretch in grand tours, highlighted by the remarkable performance of the last Tour de France. Three stage wins at the Grande Boucle (one with Primoz Roglic, two with Dylan Groenewegen) and the prestigious overall placements (Primoz Roglic fourth and Steven Kruijswijk fifth) give Team LottoNL-Jumbo confidence to be in the front line again in Spain, in a race characterized by a difficult course: 21 stages, 7 uphill finishes and totally 3254 kilometers.
The hightly-competitive Team LottoNL-Jumbo squad has everything to feature prominently on every terrain: Steven Kruijswijk (Netherlands), George Bennett (New Zealand), Danny Van Poppel (Netherlands), Lars Boom (Netherlands), Floris De Tier (Belgium), Tom Leezer (Netherlands), Bert-Jan Lindeman (Netherlands) and Sepp Kuss (United States).
Fifth at the Tour de France, Steven Kruijwijk starts the Vuelta with the leader’s status, together with George Bennett, eighth overall at the Giro d’Italia. In the mountain stages, the leaders will count on the support of climbers like De Tier and Kuss, the latter in the spotlight at the Tour of Utah. Danny Van Poppel, stage winner at the 2015 Vuelta a España, will be LottoNL-Jumbo’s card for the mass finishes, whilst Boom, Leezer and Lindeman round out the roster, splitting their role between support to the protected riders and taking chances in breakaway opportunities.
Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s Sports Director Meerin Zeeman underlined the team’s expectations: “We are focused on the overall standing with our leaders, George Bennett and Steven Kruijswijk. In addition, we are sure that Danny Van Poppel will be able to make the most of his sprint chances".
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