Fernando Gaviria to lead UAE Team Emirates at Vuelta a San Juan

Fernando Gaviria is set to lead UAE Team Emirates in the Vuelta a San Juan. The Colombian has won five stages in the Argentinean race

Gaviria will start his season once more in South America, where he will be rejoined by his lead-out main man Max Richeze. The rider has taken five stage victories since the first time he started there in 2017 and last season ge won two bunch sprints.

As in previous editions, the race offers ample opportunities for the sprinters where Fernando Gaviria will be aiming to leave his mark having claimed five stages there since 2017. The race also features a 15.5 time trial on stage 3 which should favour the likes of Tom Bohli and Brandon McNulty.

Last year saw Gaviria win two stages in the mass sprints while Valerio Conti fell just short of the podium with 4th place on GC.

"I'm excited to be coming back to race in Argentina," said Gaviria. "Last year we started the season well here with victory on stage 1. The level of sprinters is always very high so it acts as a good test in the early part of the season. We are coming to the race well-prepared."

"It's true, this year I will have an extra motivation because Maximiliano Richeze will be by my side. He is a very important person in my career and in UAE Team Emirates we are happy to have him with us. With him in the team, we will have even more encouragement from the fans too, because for them Richeze is an example for the locals."