With the Vuelta a Espana offering a very mountainous course, it is no surprise that FDJ has put its main emphasis on climbing when selecting their 9-rider roster for the Spanish grand tour. Looking for revenge following a disappointing Tour de France, Thibaut Pinot joins forces with Kenny Elissonde and Alexandre Geniez to form a very strong trio of climbers while Geoffrey Soupe will be the team's main sprinter.

FDJ is the third team to select its roster for the Vuelta a Espana and the French squad will line up at the Spanish event with a clear focus on its climbers. As the Vuelta offers no less than 11 uphill finishes during its 21 stages, the team has designed a roster that is well-adapted to the course.

The team will be spearheaded by Thibaut Pinot who hopes to bounce back from a highly disappointing Tour de France. Having built his entire season on Tour success, the Frenchman fell out of GC contention on the descent from the Port de Pailheres and was unable to mentally cope with his defeat, ultimately abandoning the race with a sore throat.

Having now come to terms with his ill-fated race, he is ready to take his revenge in the Vuelta. He returned to competition in the Tour de l'Ain which finished today and an overall 6th place finish bodes well for his prospects on a course that suits him perfectly.

As he has done during the last five days, he will join forces with diminutive climber Kenny Elissonde who will make is grand tour debut later this week. Originally scheduled to race his maiden three-week race at the Giro, the Frenchman is finally ready to tackle one of the longest races on the calendar and his 7th place finish in Ain proves that he is ready for the task. Elissonde has a reputations as a highly inconsistent rider and it will be interesting to see how he copes with the strains of a 21-stage race.

The team's third and final climber is Alexandre Geniez who left Argos-Shimano prior to the season to get onto a team with more focus on its climbers. Having suffered from illness in the early part of the season, he finally found his best legs for the Tour where he raced an aggressive race and finished 4th on the big mountain stage to Le Grand Bornand.

The team's two marquee sprinters Nacer Bouhanni and Arnaud Demare will both be absent as the former has already raced two grand tours this year and the latter has decided to focus on the one-day races and his title defence at the Vattenfall Cyclassics. Instead, the team will look to Geoffrey Soupe in the flat stages and the resistant sprinter should be well-suited to the tricky sprints of the Spanish race.

An in-form Anthony Roux who recently won a stage and wore the leader's jersey for several days at the Vuelta a Burgos, will try to take his second stage win at the race, having already won from a breakaway in 2010. Young Arnaud Courteille, Finnish champion Jussi Veikkanen, Laurent Mangel and Cedric Pineau complete the roster.

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

FDJ.fr for the Vuelta a Espana

Thibaut Pinot, Alexandre Geniez, Kenny Elissonde, Laurent Mangel, Cedric Pineau, Jussi Veikkanen, Arnaud Courteille, Anthony Roux and Geoffrey Soupe