Trek-Segafredo target stage wins at the 2018 Vuelta a España

The 73rd edition of the Vuelta a España kicks off in Málaga, in the deep South of Spain, on August 25 and Trek-Segafredo has organized a strong eight-man squad that will vie for top results in the season's third grand tour

Bauke Mollema, former stage winner at the Vuelta (2013) will headline the eight-man team. He will be joined by Markel Irizar, Gianluca Brambilla, Fabio Felline, Giacomo Nizzolo, Matthias Brändle, Nicola Conci and Kiel Reijnen.

Sport director Yaroslav Popovych said this about the line-up for Vuelta: “We are coming to the Vuelta with big goals, but goals that we believe we have a very good chance of achieving. On the one hand we will try to hunt for stage victories, in the flat stages with Giacomo Nizzolo, who has showed in the recent Tour of Poland that he his in good shape. Then, we also have Gianluca Brambilla and Fabio Felline who will show their full support to Bauke but who can also go for stage wins from a breakaway. And we have Matthias Brändle who can do really well in the prologue and the TT."

"On the other hand we have Bauke Mollema, who came with great legs from the Tour de France, finishing 2nd in 'his' race, the Clásica Ciclista San Sebastián and who is aiming for the overall. The whole team will be there to protect him and to bring him to Madrid in the perfect position and as highly ranked as possible. We strongly believe he can attain a top five if all goes well."

"To make our line-up complete we have Markel Irizar as an excellent and experienced, strong rouleur for the flat stages, Kiel Reijnen and his fast legs to help Giacomo in the sprints and grand tour rookie, Nicola Conci, who is here to learn in the first place but who can also be of great help in the mountains."

"I see a lot of opportunities for us in this Vuelta. We have a very strong team assembled and it will be a very exciting three weeks for all of us."

The complete Trek-Segafredo line-up for the Vuelta a España 2018:

Gianluca Brambilla (ITA)
Matthias Brändle (AUT)
Nicola Conci (ITA)
Fabio Felline (ITA)
Markel Irizar (ESP)
Bauke Mollema (NED)
Giacomo Nizzolo (ITA)
Kiel Reijnen (USA)