Cofidis has made a very early selection of its roster for the Vuelta a Espana as the team today named the 9 riders that will line up at the race on August 24. Jerome Coppel is set to lead the team while there was no spot for Daniel Navarro who will take on an alternative race schedule on the back of his 9th place finish in the Tour de France.

Usually, the rosters for a grand tour aren't selected this early but Cofidis has taken the unusual step to name its line-up for the Spanish grand tour with almost three weeks still to go until the start of the race. Knowing that much can change from now on and until August 24, the team has made it clear that they have the option to change the roster, should it become necessary.

The team will be led by Jerome Coppel who joined the squad from Sojasun prior to this season and has had a hugely disappointing season so far. However, his legs finally came around in the final week of the Tour de France when he finished 3rd in the stage to Gap and played a huge part in the coup that allowed teammate Daniel Navarro to get into the overall top 10.

Having had better sensations recently, he is likely to target a top 10 on GC as he has already finished 13th in the 2011 Tour de France. Last year he also raced the Tour as GC captain but illness saw him finish a modest 21st. He will use the Tour de l'Ain which starts on Friday as his final build-up race.

Luis Angel Mate will be the only Spanish rider in the line-up and he will take on his second consecutive Vuelta. He is an aggressive rider who suddenly looked as though he would ride himself into the red jeader's jersey in last year's stage to Valdezcaray but ultimately missed out on the opportunity.

There's also room for the team's two young French climbers Nicolas Edet and Yoann Bagot who have both had a very good season so far and both finished in the top 10 of the Tour of Turkey. Bagot also raced the Vuelta last year but as it was the case in this year's Tour illness forced him to bring his participation to a premature end.

Cyril Bessy joined Cofidis prior to this year's season and is set to make his grand tour debut. The same goes for sprinters Adrien Petit and Stephane Poulhies who should both offer the team some options in the bunch kicks. The French public has high expectations for Petit who is a regarded as a huge talent in his home country. Belgian all-rounders Nico Sijmens and Romain Zingle complete the roster.

There was no spot for Daniel Navarro who saved what was about to end up as a disastrous Tour de France for the team when he moved into the top 10 on GC with a gutsy ride on stage 10. Trying to recover from those efforts, he has chosen to skip his home grand tour this year and thus leaves it to his teammates to make up for what has been a hugely disappointing season so far. David Moncoutie has been the stand-out performer in the Vuelta in recent years but the Frenchman ended his career in the Spanish race last year.

The Vuelta kicks off with a team time trial in Galicia.

Cofidis for the Vuelta a Espana

Jerome Coppel, Luis Angel Mate, Yoann Bagot, Nicolas Edet, Cyril Bessy, Adrien Petit, Stephane Poulhies, Romain Zingle and Nico Sijmens