News: Race Program for Trek Stars

Trek Segafredo star riders, Vincenzo Nibali, Richie Porte, Bauke Mollema, Mads Pedersen, Jasper Stuyven & Lizzie Deignan reveal/confirm race programs for new 2020 season

News: Race Program for Trek Stars

Trek Segafredo star riders, Vincenzo Nibali, Richie Porte, Bauke Mollema, Mads Pedersen, Jasper Stuyven & Lizzie Deignan reveal/confirm race programs for new 2020 season

Having made his 2020 racing debut at the Santos Tour Down Under where he played a crucial role in helping teammate Richie Porte achieved the overall win, Mads Pedersen will stay committed to the majority of his goals for the season, which includes racing the Tour de France before an intensive block of Classics, culminating with Paris-Roubaix.

“It’s super nice to finally see a race calendar again, now we have something to aim and prepare for. The last few weeks we have spent riding but without a real goal in mind, so it’s helpful to have the calendar again and to get back in the rhythm for racing. Obviously, my targets remain the Classics, and I still hope to ride the Tour. For sure, the Classics will be my main goal, and it’s at the end of the season so I’m really looking forward to it and I’m hoping for a wet Roubaix this year,” said Pedersen.

The Covid-19 pandemic led to the suspension of the racing calendar in March and resulted in the cancelation of several races and the postponement of many others, including the monuments and prestigious spring Classics, which will now be raced in the Fall. The switch doesn’t distress the reigning World Champion:

“Racing is racing, and we will be ready whenever the Classics are on. It’s okay to move the races when the world is in this situation, we will adapt to it and be ready. It’s nothing special in my mind and I’m not thinking a lot about it, I’m just looking forward to starting racing again. It will be a cool experience to do all the big races in such a short period. It’s something new for everyone and it’s going to be nice.”

Jasper Stuyven during Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne 2020 (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

Belgian Jasper Stuyven is following Pedersen’s racing blueprint. The reigning Omloop Het Nieuwsblad champion also has the Tour de France on his radar but will make the Classics his main goal once the 2020 racing calendar resumes.

“I’m happy that they made a calendar so now we have perspective and future to look towards. Of course, it’s a new situation for everyone so it’s hard to know if it will fit you or not, but I think we are all very eager and hungry to start racing again. Also, having the calendar allows us to start planning our training schedules and gives us a goal of trying to reach our top level again,” said Stuyven.

“The Classics are still my main target and it will be a short period with a lot of races, so it will be important to find a balance between races, rest, and a little bit of training. No one knows what racing the Classics in October will bring, but from what I remember, for the last few years, the weather in October has been quite okay in Belgium. The chances are a bit higher for bad weather, but I don’t mind some rain and a bit of cold.”

Mads Pedersen is scheduled to make his return to competition in the Vuelta a Burgos (July 28 – August 1) while Tour de Poland (August 5-9) will be Jasper Stuyven’s first race back.

Lizzie Deignan during pre-season training camp in Sicily. Photo credit: Trek-Segafredo

Lizzie Deignan’s racing calendar will have the Giro Rosa and the Classics as key focal points. The former World Champion is particularly eager to race a stacked Classics program this fall, namely the Tour de Flanders, a race she won in 2016 and a goal once the 2020 racing calendar resumes.

“I’m particularly excited to race the ‘Spring Classics’! I don’t think it matters what time of the year they’re raced. They are iconic races and daydreaming about a victory there for the team is what motivates me now during lockdown training. Flanders has a special place in my heart and it will be another chance to experience the climbs and cobbles before the World Championships in 2021,” said Deignan.

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Vincenzo Nibali, Richie Porte, and Bauke Mollema
The key goals of our General Classification contenders Vincenzo Nibali, Richie Porte, and Bauke Mollema keep original targets for 2020. Trek-Segafredo’s General Classification contenders will maintain their respective key goals set out at the start of 2020 once the racing season resumes this summer. Vincenzo Nibali will target the Giro d’Italia GC while Richie Porte and Bauke Mollema will share leadership roles at the Tour de France.

Multiple Grand Tour winner Vincenzo Nibali will aim to win the Maglia Rosa at Giro d’Italia for the third time in his career as he’ll focus on a predominantly Italian race schedule, lining up for several marquee events on home soil. At the Italian Grand Tour Nibali will enjoy the support of compatriot and 2019 Giro KOM jersey winner Giulio Ciccone.

“This new calendar in perspective brings a wave of positivity and optimism in a very complicated season. What awaits us, with a schedule full of events compacted in just three months, is extraordinary and we must do our utmost to be ready. Personally, I’ll focus on an exclusively Italian calendar, with the Giro still at the center of my goals, which makes me happy and proud. I’m also waiting for updates on the Worlds. With the team we have defined a measured preparation to be competitive already in the first events in August,” said Nibali.

The re-shuffle of the racing calendar will have the professional peloton line up for key events in unprecedented dates. This could affect both the usual preparation timelines as well as the racing itself but Nibali is ready for the challenge ahead.

“There are many unknown variables, both in terms of preparation and in the races. Climbing the high mountains of the Giro in Autumn or riding the 300 km of Milano-Sanremo in August, for example, it’s something unprecedented. But I like new challenges and the desire to pin on a number is great. From the first altitude training camp in July I have four months of full immersion ahead of me. I am motivated and, above all, I’m optimistic that I can go back to doing what we, riders and fans, like: racing,” concluded the two-times Giro d’Italia winner who is scheduled to resume racing at the Strade Bianche on August 1st.

Richie Porte
Like Nibali, Australian Richie Porte is committed to his original target of the season, in his case the Tour de France. “The Tour de France remains my main goal for the season, and it starts with the added bonus of riding on my local roads in Nice. However, it’s definitely going to be uncharted territory racing the Tour in September. I’m not sure how different it will be, though I don’t expect it to be as hot as normal and the weather might be a bit more fickle in the mountains,” said Porte

Richie Porte during Stage 7 of the 2020 Paris-Nice (Photo by Luc Claessen/Getty Images)

The 35-year-old Tasmanian started the season on a high note winning a stage and the General Classification at the 2020 Santos Tour Down Under, the first UCI World Tour race of the year and then carried his good form to Europe taking a GC podium at the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var.

“It was a great start to the season for me personally, but since then it’s been such a strange period with no racing and not even being able to get out on the bike. The fact that we’re going to have some races at the end of the year is good for the sport. The team has been very good at this time, very transparent in keeping us informed about what’s happening behind the scenes. It’s finally going to be nice to put some kilometers in on the road and get the season restarted.”

Porte, who resides in Monaco during the season, endured a two-month-long lockdown before being allowed to train outdoors. “When the revised calendar was released it definitely made it easier to get back on the trainer during the lockdown period. Now, it’s been a week since I’ve been allowed out on the road and of course the fire is burning for the Tour de France, but when you miss nine weeks of riding on the road it’s a shock to the system. With cycling being such a goal-driven sport, it’s really good to have a calendar that we can now work towards,” concluded Porte.

Bauke Mollema
Bauke Mollema will share Trek-Segafredo’s leadership at the 2020 Tour de France with Porte. The experienced Dutchman was originally slated to contest the general classification at the Grand Boucle and will couple that goal with a participation in the Vuelta a España a month later, where he’ll target stage wins.

Bauke Mollema signs on for Stage 1 of 2020 Volta ao Algarve (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images)

“My  goals for the rest of the season are still more or less the same. After this break, I am really looking forward to racing again. Until now it was more about staying fit but with the new calendar, we can really start working towards our goals. It will be a busy few months, but I really hope we can give the fans a lot to cheer for again,” said Mollema.

Should racing resume according to the revised 2020 UCI calendar both Bauke Mollema and Richie Porte are aiming to re-start their season at the three-stage French race Tour de L’Ain (August 7-9).