The Italian Alessandro Fancellu will run as stagiaire with the Trek-Segafredo during this season

Italian rider Alessandro Fancellu will run as a stagiaire in the Trek-Segafredo ranks throughout this season, the American structure confirmed on Wednesday. The Lombard will share the role of trainee with three other cyclists, two for the men’s team and one for the women’s team: the Dane Mattias Skjelmose, Antonio Tiberi and the Dutch rider Shirin van Anrooij.

Before that, however, the cyclist from Como will compete with the Kometa-Xstra Cycling Team in the Giro d’Italia U23, which starts on Saturday in Urbino. Fancellu, 20, is following in the footsteps of Italian Matteo Moschetti and Luxembourger Michel Ries, both of whom were apprentices in 2018, and Spain’s Juan Pedro Lopez, who was apprenticed last season before joining the US World Tour.

“I am very happy to have this opportunity. I have to thank Trek-Segafredo because this is an atypical season, but still they have offered me this great opportunity. It will be an honor to be able to race as a stagiaire with one of the best teams in the WorldTour”, said Fancellu.

In statements provided by his team, the head of scouting Markel Irizar highlighted the work of the Contador Foundation’s continental structure: “Alessandro is a pure climber and an emerging talent. He comes from Kometa Xstra Cycling, a team that has been excellent in developing riders. We were hoping he would perform well in Tour de L’Avenir, but unfortunately that race was canceled, and now he’s focused on preparing for the Giro U23, where we hope to see him perform on the mountain stages. He has some great human qualities. To put it simply, he’s a good guy, not just on the bike but off the bike. He’s professional, serious and friendly. These are qualities that we value a lot at Trek-Segafredo. It’s not just your quality as an athlete, but your personality and your character that count a lot”.