Elia Viviani will make his debut for the squad at the 20th edition of the Australian race.
2018 marks the anniversary of two decades since the creation of the Tour Down Under, first World Tour event of the calendar and at the same time the most important race held in the Southern hemisphere.
For that reason, the race – whose start is scheduled two days after the traditional People’s Choice Classic criterium (January 14th) – will kick off from Port Adelaide, just as it did twenty years ago, before taking the peloton through more than 80 towns (including Stirling and the 3km-long Willunga Hill, with their spectacular stage finishes, but also Uraidla, a new-entry in the race) and returning to Adelaide for the final stage, which will see the sprinters move again into the spotlight.
Elia Viviani – one of Quick-Step Floors’ seven new signings for the 2018 season – will be at the start of the Tour Down Under (16-21 January), which he previously raced in 2011 and 2014, and is looking with optimism to the six-day event.
“I like the Tour Down Under, it’s one of the best races to start the season – with nice stages, spectacular landscapes and fantastic fans, who always create an electric atmosphere – and I’m motivated to kick off the season on the right foot. It’s a star-studded field at the start and I know it won’t be easy in the sprints, but I have a strong team with a good lead-out and this gives me confidence for my debut in the Quick-Step Floors kit, which I’m eager to show in Australia”, said the 28-year-old Italian, winner of 50 races in his career.
Fellow countrymen Eros Capecchi and Fabio Sabatini will join the 2016 Olympic Omnium Champion, who’ll also rely on Dries Devenyns, Enric Mas (who last year made his pro debut at the Tour Down Under), and two other newcomers, Michael Mørkøv and Florian Sénéchal, in his first outing for Quick-Step Floors.
Photo credit: ©Sigfrid Eggers
