Bahrain Merida have announced the signing of young Welsh rider Stephen Williams who is joining the team as a stagiaire for the rest of the 2018 season and will turn professional in 2019.

The 22-year-old talented climber – who recently won a mountain stage at the U23 Giro d’Italia, spending a day in the pink jersey as well – is really excited about this opportunity: “I’m so happy to be joining Bahrain Merida, this is the perfect team for me to learn and develop as a young climber. I’m really excited and can’t wait to start racing with the team” commented Williams.

“I’m over the moon to be turning pro and moving to the highest level of cycling, this will give me the opportunity to race the biggest races in the world. I’ve looked up to Vincenzo Nibali for a number of years now, and to be able to race along side him for the next years is something special for me”.

In addition to his recent performance at the U23 Giro d’Italia, amongst the other notable results for Williams who raced for SEG Racing Academy for the past two seasons are the overall win and two stages at the 2018 Ronde de l’Isard (2.2U).

General Manager of the Bahrain Merida Team, Brent Copeland, is looking forward to working with the young talented rider: “It is with great pleasure that we welcome Stephen Williams to the team. Young talented riders like Stevie are a very important part of our teams strategy. We have been watching him for a while now and his talent was confirmed with the two mountain stages at the Giro Baby where he impressed us all.

“Together with the technical staff we have closely looked at where Stevie will fit in with our team and we feel he will find the perfect place to start his professional career where he will get our full support. SEG racing academy have been doing a fantastic job at giving the U23 riders these opportunities and we thank them for there collaboration and support on this. We excited and looking forward to Stevie having some racing with us also in the next few months as a stagiaire”.

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