Grand Tour rider spotting: Who is racing where in 2019

14 January 2019 03:41
The 2019 season has begun in earnest this January and the men's WorldTour calendar will kick off on Tuesday with the Tour Down Under. After Australia and trips to South America and the Middle East, it won't be long before we hit the Classics in spring and then the Grand Tours. The cycling calendar is getting more and more packed as the years go on and it can be hard to keep track of who is going where. To make things easier for you, Cyclingnews has rounded up the top general classification riders so you can keep tabs on your favourites and see where we'll find early-season contests ahead of the major races. Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) The Australian will start his season slightly earlier than his GC rivals after racing for the first time in Trek-Segafredo colours at the Down Under Classic criterium. His real first test will be at the Tour Down Under, followed by the Cadel Evans Road Race and the Herald Sun Tour. After that, Porte will head to the Middle East for the UAE Tour, while his European debut is yet to be confirmed. His major target this season will be the Tour de France.ADVERTISEMENT Chris Froome (Team Sky) Having headed to Australia for his season opener, Froome is using the Tour Colombia for his first foray into racing in 2019. After Colombia, he will join Porte at the UAE Tour in what looks to be a strong GC field. Froome's post UAE Tour calendar is a little less clear, though he has indicated that he would like to ride the Tour de Yorkshire. However, he has confirmed that he will miss the Giro d'Italia and focus solely on the Tour de France with the Critérium du Dauphiné as his warm-up. Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) Like Froome, Thomas will also gear his season around the Tour de France in July, with Egan Bernal set to ride the Giro d'Italia for the team. Unlike Froome, the 2018 Tour de France winner will start his season in Europe. The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana will mark his first outing, with the Volta ao Algarve, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Vuelta al Pais Vasco to follow. Thomas will then go to the Ardennes Classics before a short break ahead of the main part of his season. The Tour de Suisse will provide his final warm-up before the Tour de France. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) Nairo Quintana (Movistar) Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) Mikel Landa (Movistar) Miguel Angel López (Astana) You can read more at Cyclingnews.com.read full article

Source: Cycling News