Two-time Italian Tour de France stage winner Matteo Trentin will join Orica-Scott from 2018, bolstering the Australian outfit’s Classics promise.
The 28-year-old joins Orica-Scott from Quick-Step Floors for the next two seasons, eager to take a step up in the Spring.
“When I got in contact with the team I was straight away fascinated by the project and the role they saw for me in the Spring Classics,” Trentin said.
“It’s been a great six years with Quickstep Floors but for sure in the next two years I aim to make a further step in the Classics and in other races too.
“I know a few of the Orica-Scott riders from racing in the under 23s in Italy but I really look forward to getting to know everyone better and working well as a team.”
Trentin joins Orica-Scott’s current Classics group that includes Paris-Roubaix winner Mathew Hayman, rising start Alex Edmondson and Luke Durbridge who started his career with GreenEDGE and has made huge inroads this spring.
As an outfit, the Tour of Flanders is the final monument for Orica-Scott to conquer after success at Paris-Roubaix and Il Lombardia in 2016, Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 2014 and Milan-San Remo in 2012.
Sport director Matt White said the Italian adds another element to Orica-Scott’s developing team.
“Matteo has done six years at Quickstep so he has learnt in the best team possible the ‘ins and outs’ of the Flemish scene,” White said. “He has been teammates with the best Classics riders in the world and now it´s his time to shine.”
“We have a developing Classics team that has been together for a while now, plus some great older heads. We are led by Mathew Hayman, who has been passing his knowledge onto our next generation of Aussie stars like Luke Durbridge and Alex Edmondson but Matteo will give us that X factor that will only bolster the groups aim for more success in that very special time of the season.”
In addition to his value in the Spring, Trentin has also been recruited as another member of the sprint train for key young sprinter Caleb Ewan.
“On the Classics front, Matteo is a guy hungry for success and then coming off the back of working with Marcel Kittel he adds another element for a train we are building around our key sprinter Caleb Ewan,” White explained.
“To have a guy who has been working directly with the fastest guy in the world is of immense value to Caleb. Matteo’s versatility was also a big attraction to us, this adaptability will become even more important in a world of cycling that is constantly evolving.”
