Caja Rural is the second team to confirm its roster for the Vuelta a Espana and the team will send a line-up loaded with climbers to its most important race of the season. David Arroyo, Amets Txurruka, Marcos Garcia, Andre Cardoso and Ivan Velasco offer the team multiple options in the numerous demanding stages while Francesco Lasca hopes to show his talents in the bunch sprints.

Cofidis made their selection for the Vuelta a Espana public earlier this week and today Caja Rural became the next team to select its roster. As the only Spanish professional continental team, the squad was alwayd expected to be handed a wild card and the team hopes to use its invitation to show itself in the mountains.

The team will be led by veteran David Arroyo who finished 2nd in the 2010 Giro d'Italia and has numerous top 10 results in the Italian grand tour on his palmares. He left Movistar prior to this season and has had a difficult, injury-plagued first part of the season but has recently shown signs of improvement. If everything goes according to plan, Arroyo hopes to finish in the top 10 on GC.

Marco Garcia and Andre Cardoso were the team's two climbers in last year's race and those two will be back to once again make an aggressive showing in the mountains. Last year they finished 27th and 21st on GC respectively and Garcia got close to a stage win when he finished 4th in the stage to Valdezcaray. Both have had strong showings in the spring season where they both climbed well in the Giro del Trentino and the Vuelta a Asturias and Cardoso also proved his talents by finishing 6th in the Tour of Norway.

Ivan Velasco and Amets Txurruka both raced the Vuelta as part of the Euskaltel team last year but were some of the riders who left behind when the Basque team was on a desperate hunt for points to remain in the WorldTour. Both are strong climbers and the latter has a reputation as one of the most aggressive riders in the peloton. He won the Vuelta Asturias earlier this year and took the mountains jersey in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco.

Young Italian sprinter Francesco Lasca will make his grand tour debut and hopes to take his second season win in one of the few bunch kicks that are expected in the mountainous race. He won the Vuelta Ciclista a La Rioja in March and is seen as one of the most promising sprinters in the peloton.

Antonio Piedra delivered the team's stand-out performance last year when he won the big stage to the top of the Lagos De Covadonga climb from a breakaway and he will be back to chase success from escapes. The same goes for his teammate Francisco Javier Aramendia who was one of the most aggressive riders of the entire race last year. The team is completed by Uruguayan Fabricio Ferrari, another strong climber, who makes his debut in the race.

The team has prepared the grand tour with high-altitude training camps in Sierra Nevada and most recently Navacerrada and 8 of the selected riders (only Aramendia will be absent) will race the Vuelta a Burgos which starts today.

At the same time, the team has send 9 riders to the Volta a Portugal which starts with a 5km prologue today. That roster will be led by climbers Omar Fraile, Yelko Gomez, Enzo Moyano and Danail Petrov while Manuel Cardoso will target success in the sprints. The line-up is completed by Karol Domagalski, Fran Moreno and stagiares Ruben Fernandez and Ramon Domene.

The Vuelta starts on August 24 with a team time trial in Galicia.

Caja Rural for the Vuelta a Espana

David Arroyo, Amets Txurruka, Marcos Garcia, Andre Cardoso, Ivan Velasco, Francesco Lasca, Javier Aramendia, Antonio Piedra and Fabricio Ferrari

Caja Rural for the Volta a Portugal

Manuel Cardoso, Omar Fraile, Enzo Moyano, Yelko Gomez, Danail Petrov, Karol Domagalski, Fran Moreno, Ruben Fernandez and Ramon Domene