British Continental squad Trinity Racing has named its six-man squad for its upcoming Tour of Britain debut.
Former Team Sky rider Ian Stannard is a directeur sportif of the development team that was first created to support Tom Pidcock in 2018. Short track cross-country mountain bike world champion Christopher Blevins is one of the team's protected riders.
The American, who formerly rode for the Axeon Hagens Berman development squad, said that he was excited to be back racing on the road.
"It's been a busy couple of months, racing [MTB] in Tokyo and then straight into the World Championships but my form has been building and I was delighted with how everything went last week," he said.
"I am hoping to carry some good legs into the Tour of Britain and am excited to be back racing on the road."
Blevins will be joined in the Trinity team by talented teenagers Thomas Gloag and Luke Lamperti, plus 20-year-olds Ben Healy, Rudy Porter, and Max Walker. Earlier this year, Gloag had finished fourth at the U23 Giro d'Italia, while Healy won the final stage.
"We are delighted to make our debut at the Tour of Britain next week and to be represented by a team that brings a truly international feel," said Andrew McQuaid, founder of Trinity Sports Management, the company behind the team.
"We are fortunate to have such an incredibly talented group of riders and it has been great to watch them develop throughout the season under the tutelage of Ian [Stannard] and Jurgen [Roelandts]). We look forward to racing against some of the best riders in the world next week."
Stannard added that the Tour of Britain will be a good opportunity for his young squad to test themselves.
"This will be a great test for our riders – going head-to-head with some of the best teams in professional cycling. It is always a very tough week of racing but I'm confident our riders will be able to cope with the challenges ahead."
The 2021 Tour of Britain runs from September 5-12 and is headlined by Deceuninck-QuickStep pair Julian Alaphilippe and Mark Cavendish, and Jumbo-Visma's Wout van Aert, among others.
Click below to read out full race preview.
Cyclingnews Editor in Chief Daniel Benson will be at the Tour of Britain and we will have daily stage reports, news and interviews.
Tour of Britain 2021: Race Preview
