After a strong start to the 2024 season, winning Tour Down Under overall with Stevie Williams, Israel – Premier Tech is now ready to take on its first race in Europe this year, lining up for Tour de la Provence.
The French stage race starts out on Thursday with a flat prologue in Marseille, setting the tone for the general classification. The following day looks to be a day for the sprinters before the undulating third stage, finishing with an uphill sprint in Manosque. The final day of racing is another chance for the fast guys to shine.
“As our first race in Europe, this will be a good test for the riders”, sports director Steve Bauer tells. “Winning a stage is always a goal and we have a good group of fast finishers in the roster including Pickrell, Hofstetter, Van Asbroeck and Sheehan. A top-notch prologue, time bonuses and consistent four days of racing will be important in order to get the best GC result as we expect this race to be very close”.
Neo-pro Riley Sheehan, who amazed the cycling world by winning Paris-Tours last year as stagiaire for IPT, is eager to start his first real season with the team.
“I feel very excited to start off the season at Tour de la Provence with IPT,” he says. “It has been a very successful start to the year with Stevie and the team’s win in Tour Down Under and I look forward to giving the best possible effort in keeping that momentum going with our first European race of the year.”
“It looks like this race could play out several ways depending on the prologue and how the winds blow the following days, but all the stages excite me. It will be a great way to get back into racing shape and I believe we can pull off a good result everyday with this team.”
IPT at the Tour de la Provence
Riders: Marco Frigo (ITA), Hugo Hofstetter (FRA), Mason Hollyman (GBR), Riley Pickrell (CAN), Nadav Raisberg (ISR), Riley Sheehan (USA), Tom Van Asbroeck (BEL)
Sports Directors: Steve Bauer, Oscar Guerrero
