Stetina leads Trek-Segafredo at the Tour Down Under

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Pete Stetina will lead the Trek-Segafredo team in the Tour Down Under, with Italian sprinter Niccolo Bonifazio and veteran Giovanni Visconti leading the new Bahrain Merida team on its WorldTour debut. 

Racing in Australia begins on January 15 with the People's Choice Classic criterium with the Tour Down Under held between January 17-22. 

Stetina, who suffered multiple severe injuries after hitting into an unprotected metal pole at the Tour of the Basque County in 2015, will be joined by climber Jarlinson Pantano. Four of the seven riders on the US team squad are new to the team. Pantano and Koen de Kort transferred from other WorldTour teams, while Ruben Guerreiro and Mads Pedersen are making their debut in the top league.

Bahrain Merida held its official presentation in Bahrain at the weekend and riders and staff travelled directly from their to Australia on Monday.

The new WorldTour team will race in their red, blue and gold oclours for the first time in Australia. In addition to sprinter Bonifaizio and climber Visconti, it is sending a mixed squad which includes former mountain biker Ondrej Cink and veteran stage racer Janez Braijkovic. Tgabu Gmay (Ethiopia), Chun Kai Feng (Taiwan) and Yukiya Arashiro (Japan) round out the team.

Click here for the constantly updated Tour Down Under start list. The final riders will be confirmed the day before the race.

Cyclingnews will have full coverage of the Tour Down Under with live coverage, exclusive news, photo galleries and interview.