A talent-packed Trek-Segafredo team will start at the Vuelta a Burgos stage race in Spain on Tuesday, with the seven-rider squad boasting road race world champion Mads Pedersen, Classics specialist Jasper Stuyven, sprinter Matteo Moschetti and 22-year-old climber Juan Pedro López, who joined the team this season from Spanish Continental squad Kometa.
They'll be ably supported by experienced Belgian Edward Theuns, Latvia's Emīls Liepiņš and new British signing Charlie Quarterman as they attempt to win on all fronts and from any situation.
"I just want to race again," world champion Pedersen said on his team's website on Monday. "I'm going there to race and to be ready for the next races. I think we can do well, but everyone is super motivated, and it's the first race for almost the whole peloton. I don't know what to expect, but we're racing to win."
The team's main sprinter, Moschetti, says that he's recovered from the crash on stage 3 of the Etoile de Bessèges earlier this season, which left him with a fractured hip, and the 23-year-old Italian's keen to test his legs in the bunch sprints against other fast men such as UAE Team Emirates' Fernando Gaviria, Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) and Deceuninck-QuickStep's Sam Bennett.
"I'm really looking forward to starting racing again in Burgos," Moschetti said. "I have super nice memories from there because I won my first race as a professional rider in this race two years ago. It was a great race, and I'm excited to be back. This year, it’s more significant as it's the first one after this [coronavirus lockdown] period, so it will be nice to be back there and racing with the team again."
Before his crash in February, Moschetti had taken two race victories at the start of the season at the Trofeo Playa de Palma and the Trofeo Felanitx at the Mallorca Challenge.
"For me, my recovery from my crash has gone well, but I don't know how my shape is yet, so this will be a good test," added Moschetti, who might get an opportunity as early as the opening stage on Tuesday. "I hope that I'll be good, and I'll hopefully give it a go in the sprints. We have a strong team, so if my shape isn't up to scratch yet, then I will happily work for my teammates."
Trek-Segafredo directeur sportif Grégory Rast added: "The riders and the staff are very much looking forward to getting back to business, finally, with a goal of racing. We can't wait.
"It's clear we have a super-strong team selected for sprints on both the flat and uphill. We have big ambitions and goals in the sprint stages," he said. "There are also two mountain-top finishes, which will be López's time to shine. For him, it's good to have this chance without any pressure to show something. It's a nice opportunity for him to go for a good result."
Trek-Segafredo for the 2020 Vuelta a Burgos: Emīls Liepiņš, Juan Pedro López, Matteo Moschetti, Mads Pedersen, Charlie Quarterman, Jasper Stuyven, Edward Theuns
