Didier Rous: ‘Playing on several fronts’

PresentationAug 20, 2025

World Team TeamLa Vuelta Ciclista a España

Stage victories and overall classification with Cristián Rodríguez: these are the ambitions of the red and black team in the Vuelta a España.

Didier Rous

Sports Manager

The main objective is to achieve a stage victory for the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team in this Vuelta a España. We also have high hopes for our young riders, as these three weeks will teach them about the characteristics of a Grand Tour, enabling them to progress and gain maturity. They have what it takes to do well, to perform well and to win a stage themselves. We will have to be aggressive. We will have to give it a go and enjoy ourselves without any second thoughts. We can also aim for a good overall classification with Cristián Rodríguez, who has already finished 13th twice in the Tour of Spain, so why not imagine him in the top 10 this year?

Cristián Rodríguez

The Vuelta a España is Cristián Rodríguez's race. He has already finished 13th in the general classification twice. He can repeat this feat. He will be our leader, and I even think he has the mental and physical abilities to do even better this season. Cristián has improved in both areas this season, while also gaining in maturity.

Raúl García Pierna

Raúl García Pierna wants to race the Vuelta, his national Grand Tour. He is in the same frame of mind as Cristián and has the same desire. He is motivated, and I even think he will do better in this Grand Tour than he did in the Tour de France, where he already performed very well. Raúl is a rider who needs to race, and doing two Grand Tours in a row will do him good. His ambition, and ours, is for him to aim for at least one stage win.

Alessandro Verre

We saw that Alessandro Verre was capable of great things in the three-week races. The final stage of the Giro, in Sestrières, passing through the Col de la Finestre, is there to remind us of that. Alessandro will discover the Vuelta this season, a mountainous race that should give him plenty of opportunities to shine. He has already performed well in the Giro, and his second place this year in the final week after a difficult and mountainous stage is far from a fluke. It is up to him to confirm his great potential as a Grand Tour rider in Spain.

Jenthe Biermans

Jenthe Biermans will be tasked with getting involved in the sprints during the bunch finishes planned for the 2025 edition of the Vuelta a España. However, he will not be confined to this single role. In fact, in the event of major breakaways on slightly hillier stages, he will also be able to play his card when the pure sprinters have been eliminated and the finishes are decided in a smaller group.

Léandre Lozouet

Léandre Lozouet will discover his first Grand Tour via the Vuelta a España. A rider who knows how to position himself and rub shoulders in a peloton, his mission will be to help Jenthe in the bunch sprints. But he will also have carte blanche on certain days to go on breakaways and enjoy riding at the front. The Vuelta should help him progress and mature. The Vuelta is the ideal three-week event to launch young riders into the big time.

Victor Guernalec

Victor Guernalec is still ‘young’ in terms of full seasons, due to numerous injuries that have delayed his career progression. He will be discovering a Grand Tour this year, after a successful first season as a professional, punctuated by a victory. His sense of opportunism and his ability to race without overthinking things could enable him to compete for a stage win in this Vuelta, especially as Victor has a fairly complete physical profile that allows him to perform well as a puncheur-sprinter.

Louis Rouland

Finishing fourth in the Tour de l'Ain, with difficult stages every day, Louis Rouland, who was not far off a great performance in the Tour de Wallonie, was one of the standout performers of the summer for the ARKEA-B&B HOTELS team. The Vuelta will allow him to take his performance to the next level and, above all, give him more confidence in himself and his physical and mental abilities. He may still have some nice surprises in store for us over the three weeks of racing.

Pierre Thierry

Pierre Thierry has already competed in quite a few week-long WorldTour stage races this season, and now he is set to take things to the next level by discovering his very first Grand Tour via the Tour of Spain. He will be a valuable support, just like Léandre, at the start of the bunch sprints for Jenthe. But Pierre will not limit himself to this role. He is an offensive rider who likes to push forward and express himself in this way. Like all young riders who are about to discover a three-week event, he will have to learn to manage himself and the race, not to hesitate on certain days so that he can better target the stages that suit him best.

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