Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team Takes on the Tirreno- Adriatico with High Hopes

LATEST NEWS

TAKING ON TIRRENO-ADRIATICO WITH HIGH HOPES

Damien Howson leads the team’s GC ambitions at the 2023 edition of Tirreno-Adriatico, which starts this Monday, March 6th, with an individual time trial and will be the first WorldTour stage race of the season for Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team.

5 MARCH 2023

Starting in Lido di Camaiore in the Tyrrhenian coast and finishing seven days later in San Benedetto del Tronto in the Adriatic coast, Tirreno-Adriatico has long been known as the Race of the Two Seas and is one of the most important WorldTour stage races of the season.

The 58th edition will kick-off with an 11.5 km plan-flat individual time trial and is followed by two sprinter-friendly stages. Matteo Moschetti is looking to capitalise on his current good form and will be the team’s card for stage two from Camaiore to Follonica and stage three to Foligno which, on paper, look set to be decided in a bunch sprint finale. Our Italian Sprinter will have one more opportunity to fight for glory on the closing stage of the race, that starts and finishes in San Benedetto del Tronto with five laps of a 15 km circuit.

The fight for the general classification will be played out on stages four, five and six which are packed with hills and gruelling climbs, namely the mountaintop finish in Sarnano-Sassotetto, a 14.5km climb with an average gradient of 6.5%.

“Excited to get back to racing”

Off the back of a demanding Strade Bianche, Brit Mark Donovan will be a protected rider and will target a good overall placing while Damien Howson returns to competition after a solid bloc of training and will be the team leader. The Australian is looking forward to racing Tirreno-Adriatico for the second time in his career after his maiden appearance back in 2019.

“I’ve spent a few weeks back in Australia to attend my sister’s wedding and did a good preparation to get back to competition this week at Tirreno-Adriatico. It’s a nice race and it will be the first WorldTour stage race for the team. The stages are varied and they look like they suit the characteristics of many of our riders. There are a few sprint stages, a time trial, some short uphill finishes as well as a mountaintop finish. I’m confident we can play to our strengths and race aggressively. There will be plenty of opportunities for the team and I’m very excited to get back to racing,” says Damien Howson.

Supporting our General Classification hopefuls will be New-Zealander Jack Bauer, Ethiopian neo-pro Negasi Haylu Abreha and Italian Filippo Conca.

Our seven-rider squad will be completely with Italian Gianluca Brambilla who, back in 2020 finished 9th on the GC and will race Tirreno-Adriatico for the seventh time his career.

“Strong and motivated team”

“We’re starting this Tirreno-Adriatico with great ambition, not just in terms of stage wins but also looking towards the General Classification. We have a strong and motivated team. We have Damien Howson as the team leader and Mark Donovan as a strong second option. We’re really eager to fight for a top result on the sprinter stages with Matteo Moschetti and in the remaining ones we will aim to secure a top-10 in the General Classification. Of course, we want to be in the race so if the opportunity presents itself, we will also look to be in the breakaways,” Gabriele Missaglia Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team Sports Director.

Tirreno-Adriatico takes place between 6th and 12th of March and Gabriele Missaglia and Piotr Wadecki will be the Sports Directors for Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team.