According to De Telegraaf, Lars Boom will ride the Vuelta a España next year. The Astana rider will not be at the start of the Tour de France.

Boom already has one Vuelta stage win on his palmares as he triumphed during his debut in 2009. It will be his third appearance (after 2009 and 2012) in the Spanish Grand Tour. "This fits well with the preparation for the World Championships in Qatar," said Boom who is currently busy preparing for his cyclo-cross comeback on Boxing Day.

Boom will not do the Giro d’Italia either. "I would also have loved to do the Gir odue to start in the Netherlands with a prologue, but Astana has already finalized the roster for those three weeks,” he added.

Astana is expected to be led by Vincenzo Nibali in the Giro and by Fabio Aru in the Tour. The team has made no decision about team leadership for the Vuelta.