Woods to target Giro d'Italia as EF Education First-Drapac confirm 2018 goals

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EF Education First-Drapac have confirmed a 25-rider final roster and the team's major goals for 2018. Rigoberto Uran is set to again target the Tour de France, while Canadian Michael Woods will take aim at the Giro d'Italia after his breakthrough seventh place at the Vuelta a Espana

The US-registered WorldTour team was saved from extinction at the end of the 2017 season when EF Education First stepped in to become the new title sponsor. The international language company will eventually take over as team owners as part of a long-term investment in the sport

The team lost talented young riders Davide Formolo, Davide Villela, Dylan van Baarle, Toms Skujinš and Alberto Bettiol in the uncertainty, but 10 new signings include sprinters Sacha Modolo and Dan McLay, US talent Logan Owen, Dani Moreno from Movistar, Matti Breschel and Australian domestique Mitch Docker, who made his racing debut in the team's bright new colours at the Australian national criterium championships on Wednesday.

Sep Vanmarcke will lead the team in the spring Classics, with Taylor Phinney, Joe Dombrowski, Nate Brown, Pierre Rolland, Hugh Carthy, road captain Simon Clarke, Lawson Craddock and Alex Howes again part of the roster.

"This is a totally different team but with the same anchor points. It's a very different team than the one we had last season," team manager Jonathan Vaughters said confirming the team's roaster and goals. "It will be a different look and feel in many ways given the turnover we had with our sponsorship situation. We're lucky that most of our staff stuck with us, which will provide a lot of stability.

"There's something new for us in Dan McLay and Sacha Modolo and the support crew we've built up around them," Vaughters added. "For the first time, in a long time, we'll be competitive in the sprints. I'm excited about that. Then there's seeing what Mike Woods can do at the Giro.

"Sep wasn't healthy last year, and I'm eager to see what he can do at full strength in the spring. Rigo is uniquely suited to this Tour. It's a dynamic parcours with so many different elements. Rigo is an adaptable, Darwinian rider, and we hope he can be very competitive. Those are the four things I'm most looking forward to with this group of riders."

Like many other WorldTour teams, EF Education First-Drapac reduced their roster size after the UCI cut team sizes to 8 riders in Grand Tours and 7 riders in other WorldTour races. "It's nothing other than that," Vaughters assured.

EF Education First-Drapac revealed their new colours in November, with sponsor POC producing a pink and white kit for racing and a bright orange and white kit for training. The likes of Modolo, Dombrowski and Vanmarcke quickly showed off their new kit.

2018 EF Education First – Drapac: Matti Breschel (Denmark), Nate Brown (USA), Brendan Canty (Australia), Julian Cardona (Colombia), Hugh Carthy (Great Britain), Simon Clarke (Australia), Will Clarke (Australia), Lawson Craddock (USA), Alex Howes (USA), Sebastian Langeveld (Netherlands), Kim Magnusson (Sweden), Daniel Martinez (Colombia), Dan McLay (Great Britain), Sacha Modolo (Italy), Daniel Moreno (Spain), Logan Owen (USA), Taylor Phinney (USA), Pierre Rolland (France), Tom Scully (New Zealand), Rigoberto Uran (Colombia), Tom Van Asbroeck (Belgium), Sep Vanmarcke (Belgium) and Mike Woods (Canada).