Pro Team News: Trek sign Hondo, Nizzolo and Watson

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Trek Factory Racing has completed its roster by adding three riders to the 2014 team with the signing of Danilo Hondo (Ger), Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita), and Calvin Watson (Aus).

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While Hondo and Nizzolo have been retained from 2013’s RadioShack Leopard Trek team, Watson is a new face on the WorldTour stage and represents the team’s support and development of young, promising talent.

Providing a consistent presence of leadership and experience is WorldTour veteran Danilo Hondo. After riding in support for Lampre’s Alessadro Petacchi for three years, Radioshack Leopard Trek was lucky to land Hondo in 2013 to support their incredible classics season. Trek Factory Racing will depend on Hondo to provide mentorship to the younger sprinters as well as continue building results in the early months of the racing season.

“For me it was a logical decision to sign on with the new team,” said Hondo. “I chose a year ago to leave my role with Lampre and start working for both Fabian Cancellara in the classics and Giacomo Nizzolo in the sprint and it has worked well.”

“I didn’t see a reason to change again. I had a very good feeling with this team and I’m sure the new team will have a similar ambiance. I’d like to continue to share my experience with the classics core and to the young sprinters in the team. I’m excited about the bigger focus on sprinting and I think it’s going to be great!”

Benefiting from Hondo’s leadership and experience will be the young and talented Italian Giacomo Nizzolo. The past two seasons have been breakthrough years for Nizzolo that have revealed what the young rider is capable of. Most notably his 2012 victory at the Tour of Wallonie and winning the points classification in both the 2013 Volta ao Algarve and the Tour of Luxembourg where he also captured two stage wins.

If his trajectory continues, Nizzolo’s 2014 season with Trek Factory Racing looks promising. “I’m very happy to stay with this group, as I feel really good here. I think we are going to improve even more, as we get more and more used to racing with each other,” said Nizzolo.

“Personally I’m hoping for a couple more victories. For different reasons I don’t feel as though this year was as good for me as 2012, despite feeling physically stronger and more adapted to the races. I hope that I can have a bit more luck next year, although I’m the first to admit that misadventures like in the Vattenfall Cyclassics are part of sprinting.”

“Next year I’d like to be competitive from the start until the end of the season. Luca and I will work on my program and race calendar as I have come to realize that the spring months, with the cold and the pollen, are not optimal for me.”

Also signed onto the team for next year is Australian up-and-comer Calvin Watson. One of the youngest members of the team, Watson has raced against significant competition since turning pro at events like the Santos Tour Down Under and Tour de l’Avenir.

His ascent to the WorldTour has been swift, but the young rider brings a fair amount of European racing experience with him and will look to the veterans of the team to grow his talents. Watson, who was exposed to racing at a young age by his father who also raced, is looking at his opportunity with Trek Factory Racing as a chance to determine the direction of career.

“Right now, my focus is on learning and developing into the rider that I’d like to be,” said Watson. “I’m excited to be part of this new team as there are some amazing riders and directors here with so much knowledge of the sport. I’m just hoping to be able to utilize as much of it as I can.”

 

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