Italian joins strong Mitchelton-Scott team for final Grand Tour of 2018
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Matteo Trentin celebrates as van der Poel and van Aert realise they've been beaten(Image credit: Getty Images)
Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) won the final stage(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images Sport)
Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) during stage 16(Image credit: Getty Images)
Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott) attacked to bridge to the breakaway(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Luka Mezgec at home in Tour of Slovenia(Image credit: Vid Ponikvar/Sportida)
Newly crowned European road race champion Matteo Trentin has been confirmed as part of Mitchelton-Scott's Vuelta a España line-up. Trentin won four stages last year in the Spanish Grand Tour and heads to the race alongside Adam and Simon Yates.
For the second Grand Tour in a row, there is no place for Caleb Ewan, who has already announced that he will ride for Lotto Soudal in 2019. However, the Australian team have built a solid team for the Vuelta.
Simon Yates came within a couple of days of winning the Giro d'Italia in May and returns to Grand Tour racing after skipping the Tour de France. He will be supported in the mountains by his brother Adam, as well as Damien Howson and Jack Haig. The team also includes the experienced Michael Albasini, Alexander Edmondson and sprinter/lead-out man Luka Mezgec.
"Certainly our objective for the Vuelta is the general classification, like we have already said," said directeur sportif Julian Dean "But when you have a guy like Trentin, who last year won four stages, and a guy like Luka Mezgec, who has won stages at the Giro before, you can't come into a race and not look for opportunities where these guys can potentially win stages.
Howson returns to racing after crashing out of the Tour de France with a wrist injury. He came back earlier in August and finished fourth overall at the Colorado Classic. Haig, another promising climber, rode the Giro d'Italia in May and recently finished third at the Tour of Utah.
"We've seen great things from both Damien and Jack in the last couple of years at Grand Tours, Damo previously in the Vuelta and Jack at the Giro d'Italia this year," Dean added. "We have some good, clear objectives for Damien to be able to support Simon in the medium mountain stages. He has been riding well at the Tour of Colorado after breaking his wrist at the Tour de France, so certainly he is ready and primed for the Vuelta.
For Trentin the Vuelta a Espana represents his maiden Grand Tour for Mitchelton-Scott. He has won stages in all three Grand Tours, and after a season disrupted by injury and bad luck, the Italian looks to be firing on all cylinders as the final block of this campaign begins.
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