August 24, 2009 (Madrid, Spain) – Unipublic, the organizing body for the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain) race has released the preliminary start list with the names of 198 ProTour cyclists from 22 teams and there are three Canadians with a possible fourth in the mix – preliminary start list here.

The three Canadian riders are:

– Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Slipstream)
– Dominique Rollin (Cervelo Test Team)
– Svein Tuft (Garmin-Slipstream)):

Additionally, Christian Meier (Garmin-Slipstream), is named as an alternate so it’s likely that three Canadians – and conceivably four – will be racing at this year’s 3,267km, 21-stage Vuelta d’Espana from August 29 to September 20. This is a new record of participation for Canada at the Vuelta and likely a participation record for Canadian men at any of the three Grand Boucle (Tour de France, Giro, Vuelta) major bike tours in the world (we’re checking). Rollin is the first Quebecer to compete at a Grand Tour since Pierre Gachon (British Team) raced at the 1937 TdF – read more here.