Aqua Blue Sport has confirmed that for the second successive year, the team will kick off its racing season in Australia and the Middle East.
The team will line up first in the Towards Zero Race Melbourne criterium (January 25th) and the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race (January 28th), followed by the Jayco Herald Sun Tour (January 31st-February 4th).
The Irish squad will then tackle the challenges of desert racing with the Dubai Tour (February 6th-10th) and Tour of Oman (February 13th-18th).
“Aqua Blue Sport is excited to return to Australia to make its 2018 racing debut, a country that celebrates cycling with great passion and a new market for our e-Commerce site this year with key Australian retailers coming on board,” said Stephen Moore, General Manager at Aqua Blue Sport.
“We are ready to embrace the challenge of our second season with a talented group of 16 riders who share our values and ambition to be competitive at the elite level of road racing. We hold fast in our vision to push the boundaries of professional cycling and look forward to build on an incredibly successful maiden season.”
The team also confirmed its final, 16-strong rider roster for 2018 and as previously announced, three new signings join the squad this year: Irishman Eddie Dunbar (2017 winner of the U23 Tour of Flanders); Dane Casper Pedersen (current U23 European Road Champion) and New Zealander Shane Archbold.
Behind the scenes, Dane Nicki Sørensen will continue in the role of key Directeur Sportif while the team welcomes the experience of Belgian Bob de Cnodder as a new member of the performance team. Former rider Martyn Irvine will also join the backroom staff as a Director Sportif with Aqua Blue Sport in 2018.
Stephen Barrett stays on as Head of Performance, optimising rider development and training with the added support of Kevin Poulton, who comes on board as Performance Director. Stephen Moore will continue to spearhead the Aqua Blue Sport team as General Manager.
