Michael Matthews will headline Team Jayco AlUla at the Tour de Suisse later this week, in addition to the one-day Grosser Preis des Kantons Aargau.
The 87th edition of the Swiss race will start on Sunday but will be preceded on Friday by the traditional event in Gippingen.
The team that will race on Swiss roads is a balanced mix of experience and youth. Matthews will be the leader both in Gippingen and the opening stages of the Tour de Suisse, helped in this by two highly experienced riders in Lawson Craddock and Amund Grøndahl Jansen.
The American and Norwegian riders will return to racing after a period of absence due to illness and injury.
They will find many young teammates, starting with Hagos Berhe, who will aim to improve on his 16th place last year, and a pair of fast men in Felix Engelhardt and Anders Foldager. The Swiss Mauro Schmid completes the team and is ready to battle on his home roads.
Team Jayco AlUla for Tour de Suisse:
Hagos Berhe (ETH)
Lawson Craddock (USA)
Felix Engelhardt (GER)
Anders Foldager (DEN)
Amund Grøndahl Jansen (NOR)
Michael Matthews (AUS)
Mauro Schmid (SUI)
Michael Matthews:
“I had a good training block after the Classics and everything been going really well so I’m looking forward to this next block of racing in Gippingen, Tour de Suisse, the Tour de France and hopefully the Olympics after that. I think the shape is good so I can’t wait to be back in Suisse. I have some great memories in this race.”
Mathew Hayman (Sport Director):
“Matthews will lead the team particularly for the first few stages. We also have a mixture of young and old in the squad with a lot of experience coming from riders like Craddock and Grøndahl Jansen, who came back from surgery, and we got young riders like Hagos, Engelhardt and Foldager who really want to perform in this race. Last but not least, we Mauro Schmid from whom we expect good things racing back in Switzerland.”
Photo: KRAMON
