News | Paris-Nice | Strade Bianche • March 4, 2021
Season gains momentum with Strade Bianche and Paris-Nice
Teams announced for next races in Italy and France
After the first big success of the season at the UAE Tour, the team heads into the next block of racing full of confidence, with the one-day Italian classic Strade Bianche on (6 Mar) and the French stage race Paris -Nice (7-14 Mar) next on the menu for the Emirati squad.
For Strade Bianche the team heads in with a strong team including recent UAE Tour winner Tadej Pogačar and runner-up from last year Davide Formolo.
Taking charge will be Sports Directors Andrej Hauptman (Slo) and Manuele Mori (Ita) who will lead a group of seven riders:
-Valerio Conti (Ita)
-Davide Formolo (Ita)
-Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor)
-Marco Marcato (Ita)
-Tadej Pogačar (Slo)
-Jan Polanc (Slo)
-Alexandr Riabushenko (Blr)
Davide Formolo : “Last year I had an amazing day on the bike here and managed to finish second and climb on the podium. It was a really special feeling, also because it was shortly after the lockdown. It’s a race that suits me well and one I can do well in. I’ll start with less pressure this year as my condition is still building. Tadej is in good form at the moment and the idea is that we both make it deep into the final with as many teammates as possible. It can be an unpredictable race but that can play to our advantage on Saturday.”
Meanwhile in France the team will head to ‘the race to the sun’, Paris-Nice, which runs from 7-14 March.
Sports Directors’ Fabio Baldato (Ita), Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) and John Wakefield (RSA) will take charge with the following seven man squad:
-Sven Erik Bystrom (Nor)
-Rui Oliveira (Por)
-David De La Cruz (Spa)
-Rui Costa (Por)
-Alexander Kristoff (Nor)
-Brandon McNulty (USA)
-Matteo Trentin (Ita)
Alexander Kristoff : “There are a few stages here which suit me well. I last won a stage here 6 years ago so to repeat it would be nice. The main goal aside from wins will be to improve the shape ahead of the classics. Between myself and Trentin we are confident we can have a great spring campaign for the team.
For the GC we will be here with De La Cruz and McNulty, but our team is full of guys who could potentially win stages.”
