The first weekend of competitions immediately proves to be very demanding for our riders who will be busy on three different fronts between Spain, France, and Italy. On Saturday, August 1st, Vuelta a Burgos will finish while and, at the same time, there will be Strade Bianche in Tuscany and the first stage of the Route d’Occitanie in the south of France.

The first race of the UCI World Tour calendar, Strade Bianche has a very demanding route with a lot of steep climbs and 63km of gravel roads divided into 11 sectors. The last one is only 12km from the finish line in the medieval Piazza del Campo in the Siena historical centre.

SD Franco Pellizotti: “It is, in fact, the first race of the season, the guys have worked well in the various training camps and are ready to face a route that will make a lot of selection already of its own but also for the great heat expected (37/38°). Mohoric and Teuns will be our two leaders with Cortina ready to take advantage of any occasion.”

TBM line-up for Strade Bianche: Dylan Teuns, Matej Mohoric, Domen Novak, Grega Bole, Ivan Cortina, Jan Tratnik, and Fred Wright.

From Italy to Southern France where the third group of our riders will compete at the rescheduled “Route d’Occitanie”, a 4-stage race that features a varied parcours, with a challenging day in the Pyrenees, a couple of opportunities for sprinters and the final one that suits puncheurs. And who better than Sonny Colbrelli can try to take a good result there?

“I’m motivated and I’m looking forward to racing again” the Italian rider comments “I like the courses as they suit my characteristics. There will be more than one opportunity to go for a win. That is my aim, but I consider this stage race also as a test ahead of another big event as the Milan-San Remo”.

Colbrelli will count on Battaglin as lead-out man and on our young riders Inkelaar and Davies as helpers. Team Bahrain McLaren will compete in Occitanie also aiming to a good placement in the general classification, lining up Valls and Pernsteiner who will focus on the climbing stage 3. That day will be also a great opportunity for another young rider of the team, Santiago Buitrago, to experience how to ride on iconic climbs such as the Col de Beyrede.

As confirms Team Bahrain McLaren Sports Director Tristan Hoffman: “One of our aims is giving the young riders a chance to experience this high level of racing. The start list includes some strong riders that will be there to warm-up ahead of the Tour de France and I’m expecting a tough race. A stage win will be likely with Colbrelli. We’re looking forward to showing off our colours, therefore we will also try to enter the day’s breakaways”. 

TBM line-up for “Route d’Occitanie”: Enrico Battaglin, Santiago Buitrago, Sonny Colbrelli, Scott Davies, Kevin Inkelaar, Hermann Pernsteiner, Rafa Valls.