Home hero Mavi García will lead Liv AlUla Jayco at the first grand tour of the season, La Vuelta Femenina – 28th April to 5th May.
The Spanish national champion was a top-10 finisher overall in last year’s race and comes back with high hopes for her home race after a consistent spring campaign.
A longer, tougher route
Having grown from its roots as a one-day race, the Vuelta Femenina is now one of the longest races on the women’s calendar. One day has been added to the route for the 2024 edition, making for an even tougher challenge for the peloton.
Starting out in Valencia on Sunday, 28th April, the race kicks off with a 16km team time trial that will set the scene for the overall battle. The route takes the peloton close to the north coast of Spain for stage 5, before turning south and towards Madrid for the final showdown the following Sunday, 5th May.
It won’t be a processional finale into centre of Madrid, instead the general classification riders will be duking it out at 1,860m to Valdesqui. Coupled with the La Laguna Negra finish on stage 6, it will be a decisive moment in the fight for the red jersey.
Watch our rider announcement, with the help of Chat GPT, here.
Mavi García:
“I really want to do the Vuelta because it is a different race this year. I think there are more days that are better suited for me. Also, I’m excited for the TTT with this team because we are strong at this discipline.
I have been feeling better than I did last year and, at this stage, I think I can do well in this race. It’s difficult to say what you think you can do but I always want to target the podium in a race like this.”
Strong support
Backing up García in the tough terrain around Spain will be Ingvild Gåskjenn, who took a memorable podium finish at the Amstel Gold Race earlier this month. Fellow Scandinavian Caroline Andersson also has a key role to play on the climbs for Garcia.
There will be chances for the fast finishers on stages 2, 4, and 7 and Georgia Baker returns to the saddle in Spain with eyes on potential sprints following some strong results earlier this season.
Brent Copeland – General Manager:
“We’re looking forward to getting the grand tour stage race phase of the season underway starting off with the women’s Vuelta a España. The performance team has worked hard to put together a line-up that can challenge for top results at this race.
The team has made some great progress and enjoyed some great results throughout the classics period and we expect to see some more great results in the Vuelta. As always, I want to say a huge thank you to all our sponsors and team owner Gerry Ryan for enabling us to be on the start line with a strong team after some solid preparation.”
A big engine room
No watt has been spared in bringing together the roster for La Vuelta Femenina and the line-up is completed by some powerful riders.
Silke Smulders was a key rider throughout the cobbled classics this spring and will be important for the core strength of the team. With her TT talents, Georgie Howe will be in her element in the opening team time trial and adds some firepower to the engine room of the team.
Rounding out the line-up will be Teniel Campbell, who brings both strength and valuable experience to the roster.
Martin Vestby – Sport Director:
“The Vuelta Femenina being eight days gives it a bit more of a grand tour feeling to it and expanding by one day is a good thing. The course this year starts with a flat and fast team time trial that we are excited about. I think we have a strong team that can do well on that opening day.
In general, it’s not the hardest Vuelta with the longest climbs, but a lot of the stages are really open and exposed where wind could make it a stressful and hard race. Even some of the mountain stages have sections of exposed roads where everyone will need to be alert and focused. I like the course and the variety of profiles, and I think we have a good team that suits these stages well. There will be a lot of opportunities on this course for different scenarios to play out.”
Liv AlUla Jayco at the 2024 La Vuelta Femenina
Caroline Andersson (SWE)
Georgia Baker (AUS)
Teniel Campbell (TTO)
Mavi García (ESP)
Ingvild Gåskjenn (NOR)
Georgie Howe (AUS)
Silke Smulders (NED)
Photo: Sprint Cycling
