Svein Tuft named to Orica-Scott’s Vuelta a España lineup

Not even a week after he re-signed with Orica-Scott for an eighth season, Canadian Svein Tuft was named to the squad’s Vuelta a España line up on Monday. At 40-years-old, he’ll be the oldest rider in the race. The 72nd Vuelta starts Saturday with a team time trial in Nimes, France.

Tuft’s inclusion is a welcome one for Canadian cycling fans after there were no Canucks in the Tour de France following a nine-year streak of Canadian representation. Svein was in May’s Giro d’Italia, as was Michael Woods of Cannondale, the latter rider placing 38th.

Orica-Scott has a three-pronged GC attack for Spain in the form of the Yates twins and Esteban Chaves.

PREVIEW: “We have the best general classification riders we can put together." #OricaScott team for #LV2017: https://t.co/AegjMzkiqA pic.twitter.com/nzFI9cg4et

— Mitchelton-SCOTT (@MitcheltonSCOTT) August 14, 2017

Tuft took a long break from racing after winning his 10th national time trial title, with a month between the victory and July 29’s WorldTour Clasica San Sebastian, which he did not finish after working hard for Simon Yates.

#Kalsikoa: @SveinTuft is on the front of the peloton for #OricaScott with 80km to go. Big Sveino starting to reduce the gap.?? pic.twitter.com/DjeRNCLO64

— Mitchelton-SCOTT (@MitcheltonSCOTT) July 29, 2017