James Piccoli to race Vuelta a España

According to an interview James Piccoli did with Radio-Canada, the Israel Start-up Nation Canadian will race his first Grand Tour at the Vuelta a España from October 20 to November 8. The 75th Vuelta–now officially called La Vuelta ciclista a España–will be 18 stages instead of 21 as the first three days were originally set in the Netherlands before they were cancelled due to COVID-19 fears.

Near the end of his first year with ISUN, Piccoli told Radio-Canada “I feel good. The team is really happy with my progress and surprised that after fewer than ten European races, I already started to understand the sensations a little and to improve myself already.”

The 29-year-old Montréaler recently helped Irish teammate Dan Martin to 5th and 11th in La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège respectively. Piccoli placed 65th and 57th. Dan was a fine guide to the races. “Any old pros or more experienced rider knows all the roads, because they ride the same courses every year,” he said. “They know where the roads are more exposed to the wind. They know all the little nuances of racing. I can be super strong, but I miss those elements. At that level, when everyone’s training well and being in good shape, it’s little things like that that make a difference. So I really had the chance to follow Dan to find out how. he manages the race and sees the tactics to be able to play in the end of a race.”

Although ISUN hasn’t officially released its lineup with the race only six days away, Martin has been penciled in for the team. The Vuelta will have several key players from the Tour de France racing, and Martin is no exception; suffering from a broken sacrum at the Critérium du Dauphiné, he had his worst Grand Tour result in a decade.

Only two teams have released lineups, but Canadians are hoping that Michael Woods ends his time racing for EF Pro Cycling at the Vuelta. Woods has been in at least one Grand Tour with EF since 2017 and two in 2017 and 2018. His greatest Grand Tour results–7th place in 2017 and a stage win in 2018–have been in the Vuelta.

The main GC contenders look to be Richard Carapaz, Thibaut Pinot, Primož Roglič, Enric Mas, Alejandro Valverde, Emanuel Buchmann and Guillaume Martin.