Bilbao abandoned the Giro d'Italia following the passing of his teammate
Gino Mäder, until that point he was sitting in fifth position. Third at the Tour Down Under and fourth at the UAE Tour provided further evidence that the 33-year old is having good legs this year.
"Teammate Gino Mader passed away in a crazy accident and, although it was very bad to leave that behind, we will pedal for him; if possible, I would like to win in his honor in the first two days, those two stages are a clear goal," he adds, naturally wanting to succeed in front of his home crowd.
Bahrain - Victorious have however plenty chances, as each of their riders could stand their chances on specific days. The team seeks a GC result for Mikel Landa, but many others such as Matej Mohoric, Fred Wright and Phil Bauhaus will also be on the hunt for wins.
"We have eight capable of competing in all types of stages: we have the sprinter Phil Bauhaus and the guides Alfred Wright and Nikias Arndt, for the soft stages; in the medium and high mountain stages, on the other hand, Wouter Poels and Jack Haig can be greatly needed; in addition to them, we also bring an effective hunter like Matej Mohoric to the Tour," Bilbao concluded.