Thomas and Alaphilippe set to skip Vuelta a Espana

Geraint Thomas and Julian Alphaphilippe are both set to miss the Vuelta a Espana, which starts in 11 days' time, having signed up for the Deutschland Tour, which starts five days later.

Eurosport

Image credit: TNT Sports

The German event, which takes place over four stages, will be Welshman Thomas' first event since he finished second to Team Ineos colleague Egan Bernal at the Tour de France.

In his absence, Tao Geoghegan Hart is expected to lead the line for Ineos.

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WorldTeam Deceuninck Quick-Step's Alaphilippe, meanwhile, had an impressive Tour de France, wearing the yellow jersey for 14 days before losing it to Bernal.

Since then, he has mostly been resting up at home, despite starting the Clasica San Sebastian.

Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Michał Kwiatkowski (Team Ineos), Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo), Dan Martin and Alexander Kristoff (UAE-Team Emirates), Tour of Flanders winner Alberto Bettiol (EF Education First) and Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal), are all also set to ride in Germany.

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