Reflecting on his aspirations, Howson expresses confidence in the team’s potential, fueled by their collective strength:

“Form-wise I believe I’m at a similar level to this time last year. Obviously I missed out on some important racing with the cancellation of Ruta del Sol in February but training has been going ok. I’m expecting a tough race, like always in Tirreno Adriatico. It’s a well-rounded race. The opening ITT already separates he GC contenders by a few seconds so it’s important to start strong. The sprinters will have some opportunities, and there are some hilly stages where we have to be attentive before the big mountain stages on the GC. We have a strong team this year, with riders that can go for results on every stage and a climbing team that can lead us to have numbers in selective finals. We’re ready to give our best!”

Brit Mark Donovan also returns and will seek to improve on his performance from last season, when he finished as the 10h best young rider in the race. After a decade-long hiatus experienced Spaniard David de la Cruz returns to Tirreno Adriatico and brings strength to our climbing group. German Jannik Steimle will look for opportunities in the punchy stages while providing support on the sprinting opportunities as part of Matteo Moschetti’s lead-out. The fast Italian will seek to capitalise on his good form and is accompanied by his lead-out man Nicolò Parisini. Completing the squad of our Swiss-registered team is all-rounder Tobias Ludvigsson from Sweden.

The arduous Tirreno Adriatico course starts with a race against the clock and continues with he Follonica stage on Tuesday that should end in a mass sprint. Stage three to Gualdo Tadino (Wednesday 6th) is the longest stage in this edition of the race with a total of 225km. It features the 5km, 4%  Casacascalda with 17k to go plus another finishing kicker. Stage four towards Giulianova (Thursday 7th), features a long climb early on but can set up the stage for puncheurs or breakaway hopefuls to fight for the spoils.

On Friday 8th and Saturday 9th, the crucial mountain stages will be tackled. To reach the stage five finish in Valle Castellana, the peloton will have to face the mighty San Giacomo climb -11km at 6%- with 24km to go, plus a decisive climb of 5.5% towards the finish line. A day later, the Queen stage will take the riders to the top of the Monte Petrano (10.1 km climb at an average gradient of 8.1%). The race of the Two Seas concludes on Sunday at San Benedetto del Tronto, where a final sprint finale awaits.

As the countdown to the race begins, anticipation mounts as the Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team braces for a demanding journey, the relentless pursuit of excellence on the prestigious WorldTour stage.