Jai Hindley to lead Red Bull at Vuelta

Hindley, the 2022 Giro d’Italia winner, returns to Grand Tour leadership after leaving this year’s Giro on stage six with a concussion. It is his first appearance in the Spanish race since 2022, when he placed tenth a few months after his Giro triumph.

His role is beyond doubt within the team, as sports director Patxi Vila explained: “For sure, we have Jai Hindley as our GC leader within a very balanced team. We will be competitive, trying to be in the action, race aggressively, and support Jai. While it’s not easy to pinpoint an exact expectation for Jai at the moment, he is a Grand Tour winner, a solid rider, and he has already shown that he has the legs to win a three-week race.”

Next to the GC ambitions with Hindley, the team will also target stage victories in Spain. “That’s a main goal for us as well,” Vila added. “Jai is our leader, but with a balanced team we can be protagonists on several stages and aim to take some wins.”

Alongside Hindley, Aleotti, Denz and Pellizzari will also line up for their second Grand Tour of the season after riding the Giro d’Italia. With the talented 21-year-old Pellizzari, the team has another intriguing card to play. The Italian impressed on his Giro debut, where he stepped into a leadership role after both Hindley and Primož Roglič abandoned, eventually finishing an impressive sixth overall after having done significant work for Roglič earlier in the race.

• Jai Hindley (Australia)
• Giulio Pellizzari (Italy)
• Giovanni Aleotti (Italy)
• Nico Denz (Germany)
• Finn Fisher Black (New Zealand)
• Matteo Sobrero (Italy)
• Jonas Koch (Gemany)
• Tim van Dijke (Netherlands)