Richie Porte returns to Tour Down Under

Trek-Segafredo leader Richie Porte will return to the 2020 Tour Down Under, which will be his seventh appearance in a row at the Australian WorldTour stage race, which he won overall in 2017. Accompanying him will be recently crowned road race world champion Mads Pedersen, who will be racing the event for the third time.

Porte has won the race's often decisive 'queen stage' to Willunga Hill on all six of his previous visits, and will look to make it seven – and with it take a second overall title – early next season. Pedersen, meanwhile, is likely to ride in support of his Australian team leader, and potentially target stage wins from breakaways or in bunch sprints.

"Richie is a great guy with a competitive history at the Santos Tour Down Under, and we expect him to put out impressive performances again next year," said race director Mike Turtur in a press release.

"And what an honour it is for us to host the current world champion and have the rainbow jersey riding in South Australia. Mads is a world-class rider, and we can't wait to see what he will do in the opening WorldTour event next year," said Turtur.

The rest of Trek-Segafredo's seven-men squad for the race will be announced closer to the start of the event, with the men's race taking place in and around Adelaide from January 21-26, preceded by the stand-alone Schwalbe Classic criterium in central Adelaide on January 19.

Porte and Pedersen are currently taking part in a team training camp in Siracusa, Sicily, in Italy, during which the riders' race programmes have been confirmed and announced. Porte will race at Paris-Nice upon his return to Europe, which will serve as part of his build-up to being co-leader at the Tour de France alongside Bauke Mollema, while new signing Vincenzo Nibali will target the Giro d'Italia.

Pedersen is set to make his Tour de France debut next year, but will first target the spring cobbled Classics following the Tour Down Under.