July 22, 2015 (Paris, France) – Canadian rider Antoine Duchesne (Europcar) has been selected to compete for his team at the 2015 Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain) from August 22-Sept. 13. This is Duchesne’s first big tour since starting with French-based Team Europcar in 2014.

Duchesne had been hoping to ride in the Tour de France this year, so the Vuelta makes a nice consolation prize. However, due date conflicts, he will now be unable to compete at the Grand Prix Cyclistes in Quebec City (Sept. 11) and Montreal (Sept. 13) on home turf this year.

Duchesene, 23, distinguished himself by winning the U23 Canadian Road Championships in both 2012 and 2013. At the inaugural Tour of Alberta in 2013, he raced with Tour de France winner, Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC, in the winning break on Stage 4 and finished fifth while Evans took the stage victory. At the 2013 Grands Prix Cyclistes in Quebec City and Montreal, he placed 84th and 90th, respectively, and at the 2013 UCI U23 Road Worlds in Italy, Duchesne ranked 46th. In 2014, Duchesne finished sixth in the Road Nationals and won the GP de Lanaudiere.

After the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia (Tour of Italy), the Vuelta is considered the third most prestigious bicycle road race in the world. The 70th edition of the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain) will see 17 WorldTour teams will be on the start line, together with five professional continental teams—including Europcar—on a wildcard invitation basis. Day 1 sees a 7.4km team time trial from Puerto Banús to Marbella. The Vuelta finishes 21 stages and 3,374.4 kilometres later in Madrid, the Spanish capital.

Interview with Antoine Duchesne

Pedal wishes Duchesne the best of luck in the Vuelta.