Rafael Valls will not race the Vuelta a Espana. The Lampre-Merida rider will instead be watching the three-week race from home, because of an illness since the last stages of the Tour de France. The Italian team will bet on Ruben Plaza, Przemyslaw Niemec and Kristin Durasek.

"We’ve been talking with the team and decided it was best not to take the departure. I could barely prepare for the race since the end of the Tour. When I got home, I decided to rest a few days, and that’s when I got the hump. I was just dead and haven’t been able to train normally", Rafael Valls told Marca. He is suffering from swollen glands and fatigue.

Lamper-Merida line-up for Vuelta a Espana: Ruben Plaza, Mattia Cattaneo, Valerio Conti, Kristijan Durasek, Tsgabu Grmay, Ilia Koshevoy, Przemyslaw Niemec, Nelson Oliveira, Ariel Maximiliano Richeze.