Ineos Grenadiers have announced their team for the upcoming E3 Saxo Bank Classic 2021, which takes place this Friday (March 26).
The British-registered team will be headlined by British talent Tom Pidcock in the Belgian Classic, while Jhonatan Narváez and Dylan van Baarle will be strong back-up options.
>>> Five things to look out for at the E3 Saxo Bank Classic 2021
Pidcock has taken to his first season in the WorldTour like a duck to water, taking his third at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne before a top-10 finish at Strade Bianche, and a very impressive 15th place at Milan-San Remo, making the front group after a rapid ascent of the Poggio .
Narváez looks to have matured into a very versatile rider over the last year, taking a stage win from a breakaway in last year's Giro d'Italia, then going on to battle with Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) with 80km to go in this year's Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne - the former Ecuadorian champion is turning into a Classics specialist and is a rider to watch.
Dutchman Van Baarle will be looking for a big result in E3 and should be in good form, coming off the back of a 13th-place overall finish in Paris-Nice earlier this month.
Ineos will also be taking Owain Doull to E3 this week, the only other Brit in the squad alongside Pidcock, while veterans Cameron Wurf and Michał Gołaś will be taking up workhorse duties for the team.
But competition for this year's title will be fierce, Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) both down to race along with defending champion Zdeněk Štybar (Deceuninck - Quick-Step).
Some of the other big names racing are Jasper Stuyen, Mads Pedersen (both Trek-Segafredo), Greg Van Avermaet (Ag2r Citroën), Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck - Quick-Step), Philippe Gilbert (Lotto-Soudal), Søren Kragh Andersen (Team DSM) and Sep Vanmarke (Israel Start-Up Nation), to name a few.
Ineos Grenadiers team for E3 Saxo Bank Classic 2021
Tom Pidcock (GBr)
Jhonatan Narváez (Ecu)
Dylan Van Baarle (Ned)
Owain Doull (GBr)
Michał Gołaś (Pol)
Leonardo Basso (Ita)
Cameron Wurf (Aus)
