Marcel Kittel (Ger), who recently distinguished himself at this year’s Tour de France with four stage wins, including the final day in Paris, is not on the pre-selection list.
The Vuelta is considered one of the top three road bike races in the world after the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia. The 68th edition of the Vuelta starts on August 24 this year in Vilanova and finishes September 15 in Madrid, some 21 stages later and 3,319km down the road.
“We have a very diverse preselection, with all kinds of riders in the team. We are chasing stage success with a strong selection that includes young riders who will be getting their first Grand Tour experience. All the riders will be very eager to show their specialty during the race and to contribute to the team’s success,” said coach Christian Guiberteau (FRA) according to a team press release.
Parisien, the 2005 Canadian road champ, earned his biggest career victory this season winning stage 5 at the Volta Ciclista a Catalunya WorldTour on March 22 – listen to our interview w/Frank here. This was the first win by a Quebecer on the WorldTour circuit and in doing so Parisien joined an Elite group of Canucks with WorldTour victories including Steve Bauer, Ryder Hesjedal, Svein Tuft and most recently David Vellieux.
Pre-selections are not final and things could change. Unfortunately, there is a date conflict with the WorldTour Grand Prix Cyclistes Quebec and Montreal on September 13 and 15 this year, meaning that Parisien may not be there to race on home soil.
Pre-selection
– Nikias Arndt (GER)
– Warren Barguil (FRA)
– Will Clarke (AUS)
– Johannes Fröhlinger (GER)
– Thierry Hupond (FRA)
– Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (ZAF)
– Koen de Kort (NED)
– François Parisien (Can)
– Tom Peterson (USA)
– Georg Preidler (AUT)
– Ramon Sinkeldam (NED)
– Tom Stamsnijder (NED)