Bahrain Victorious is debuting at “Il Giro di Sicilia”, a 4-day stage race running across the Italian island from the 10th to 14th of April.

Although it’s the first time for the team, it’s not the debut for the leader Damiano Caruso, who participated last year, wearing the Italian National Team jersey. The Italian rider took two stage victories out of 4 stages and the General Classification.

Il Giro di Sicilia is Damiano’s home race, and he couldn’t be more motivated to hunt the “Maglia Giallo Rossa” again.

“I have good memories of this race and am glad to participate again. It will be a good race to improve my condition ahead of this season’s big appointments, but of course, if I will have the chance, I would like to reconfirm the result. The rivals are strong, but my shape is good. I like the route and will have the team focused on supporting me. Already tomorrow will be the first opportunity to do well. Anyway, I guess the general classification will be decided on the last day, with the queen stage featuring three superior category summits, including the Mount Etna climb.”

Bahrain Victorious Sports Director Alberto Volpi confirms Damiano can have a great chance also in this upcoming edition:

“This short stage-race is a good opportunity for our leader Damiano Caruso, who was already successful with his National Team last year. Except for one day, which will be for the sprinters, the other three stages will feature a demanding course, including two uphill finishes. It’s a parcour that suits Damiano well, and we will try to manage the race as best we can to support him, although we are participating with five riders. He is very motivated, as it is his home race, and this will play in our favour.”

Rainer Kepplinger, Filip Maciejuk, Johan Price-Pejtersen and Cameron Scott round up Bahrain Victorious lineup for “Il Giro di Sicilia” starting tomorrow with stage 1 Marsala-Agrigento (159km) on an undulating course with an uphill finish, coming after a 3.7km ascent at 5%, with peaks around 9%.