INEOS Grenadiers announce Vuelta a España squad

INEOS Grenadiers announce youthful and ambitious Vuelta a España squad

Carlos Rodriguez and Thymen Arensman will lead an exciting, youthful and highly ambitious INEOS Grenadiers line-up for the 2024 Vuelta a España.

A very challenging parcours will see co-leaders Arensman and Rodriguez supported by a strong and experienced group of riders including the ever-reliable Laurens de Plus, the flourishing Brandon Rivera, the fast-finishing Ecuadorian Jhonatan Narváez, impressive German youngster Kim Heiduk and the popular Oscar Rodriguez.

Making his Grand Tour debut at La Vuelta will be 20-year-old Josh Tarling who will be looking to make his mark on race’s two individual time trials on stage one in Lisbon on Saturday, and in Madrid on 8 September.

The INEOS Grenadiers lineup:

Thymen Arensman (24), Netherlands - for the fifth year running, the young Dutch GC contender lines up to race the Vuelta a España. Having taken sixth place at the Giro this year whilst supporting Geraint Thomas, he now takes aim at leadership for the team at his second Grand Tour of the season.

Kim Heiduk (24), Germany - starting at the Vuelta for the second time, the young German will be alongside Josh Tarling to help support the leaders over the flatter terrain.

Jhonatan Narváez (27), Ecuador - the opening stage winner of this year’s Giro d’Italia, the Ecuadorian will support the GC riders while also having the freedom to use his powerful attacking style to target stage wins.

Laurens de Plus (28), Belgium - as one of the peloton’s best support riders in the high mountains, Laurens will be invaluable for the GC contenders on the hardest mountain stages. He finished 10th at the Giro d’Italia in 2023, 15th at this year’s Tour de France and fifth overall at the Criterium du Dauphine.

Brandon Rivera (28), Colombia - coming into the race off the back of a stage win at the Tour of Austria and taking second overall on GC, the ever-committed teammate will be there to support the two leaders as well look for opportunities to hunt a stage win.

Carlos Rodríguez (23), Spain - following a solid performance at the Tour de France, which saw the young Spaniard finish seventh despite battling illness, Carlos continues to impress and will be aiming to challenge overall as our co-leader.  

Josh Tarling (20), United Kingdom - the young Brit makes his Grand Tour debut at La Vuelta and will be one of the favourites to take wins in the two time trials on the first and last stages. His palmares within this discipline speaks for itself, lining up as the current European time trial champion as well as national time trial champion in 2023 and 2024

Oscar Rodríguez (29), Spain - this will be Oscar’s first participation in a Grand Tour for the INEOS Grenadiers and he will play an invaluable support role in the high mountains where he is naturally strong.  

Scott Drawer, Performance Director:

“We are entering the Vuelta a España with a strong, highly competitive, and well-balanced team. We want to be aggressive and seize opportunities as they arise - whether that’s taking time on the GC with Carlos and Thymen, or stage wins with riders like Josh and Jhony.  

“There is a big opportunity for us to take the leader's jersey on stage one with Josh. He demonstrated yet again at the Paris Olympics, just how strong he is in the TT discipline.

“This is a young and dynamic team that has strength and potential to challenge for GC, as well as target stage wins across a variety of terrains. The Vuelta is probably one of the most unpredictable Grand Tours because of the route, the heat and the time in the season, so it always provides good racing. The riders and the whole team are ready to get stuck in and give it everything they’ve got.”    

Thymen Arensman said: “It’s always nice to line up in a Grand Tour, especially with this team. It's my fifth Vuelta so I’m very familiar with this race and I have some positive memories, including winning the queen stage and taking fifth place on GC in 2022. It was probably one of the nicest results in my career so far. There are also some tough memories like last year when I crashed out, but you have to put that behind you and come back with the hope to make more good memories like 2022.

“Being a leader in this team is always a privilege, and it will be nice to share it with Carlos. Of course, he’s a Spaniard and it’s his home race so it’ll always be special for him; it’s always good to have two cards to play when going for the GC.

“I have quite a positive feeling performance-wise at the moment. I took some much-needed time off after the Giro to recover a bit, so in the lead up to this race I’ve done a bit less training, but I feel good for it and stronger. At Burgos, I wasn’t quite where I wanted to be, but my body usually builds into it, and it’s good to get used to the heat. My body feels solid and is responding well so it’ll be good to take the next step at the Vuelta.”

Carlos Rodríguez said: “After the Tour I took some days off to recover and then I started training little by little to try to maintain my shape. I think the body is already recovered and I’m starting to feel more like myself after being ill for some time.

“It’s the first time that I will do two Grand Tours in a row, so it’s going to be a new experience for me. I just want to enjoy the race as much as possible, and it’s going to be special with the crowds out on home roads.

“We’re going into this with a strong team, and we’ll fight to get the best result possible both in GC and in the stages. Thymen and I have already raced and trained a lot together, and for sure this will help us manage the different situations in the race in the best way possible.”