The BMC Racing Team will line up a very strong team for its first UCI race of the season when it travels to Argentina for the Tour de San Luis. Taylor Phinney will go for glory in the time trial while Darwin Atapuma and Peter Stetina will try to have an impact on the GC in their first race in BMC colours.

The start of the cycling season is approaching and the teams are busy preparing their first races of the season. BMC will kick their season off under sunny conditions in Argentina where they will line up a powerful roster for the mountainous Tour de San Luis.

The Argentinean stage race has become a preferred season opener for many of the sport's biggest stars due to the good weather, splendid organization and attractive courses. This year's edition will follow a similar pattern to the most recent races as it will offer no less than three summit finishes and a time trial during the 7-day race.

This requires the teams to line up versatile rosters and the BMC team has selected a team which will have options on most of the stages. The biggest name in the line-up is certainly former Worlds silver medallist in the time trial, Taylor Phinney, who will do the race for the first time.

“This will be my first time in South America” he said. “I have been to Mexico, but never to South America. From what I have heard, the Tour de San Luis is a pretty awesome race and I am excited to get down there. I have heard the crowds there are incredible and the place in general is a really special place. So I'm excited to get down there."

Unsurprisingly, Phinney will focus on the time trial which could allow him to open his account early in the season.

"There is a nice time trial I will be targeting," he said. "I have never raced in January before so I am really excited to do that. It will be good for me to get an earlier start. I have been training quite hard, quite specifically for almost two months now, so I am looking forward to get back to racing.

"I don't know much about the time trial yet," he added. "Bobby Julich (of the BMC Racing Team's Sports Science Division) is looking at it, so we can start doing some more focused training for the parcours. We hope to see what it looks like pretty soon. I am in a good place mentally and physically and I am excited to be together with the team in January in a training camp in California in the weeks leading to the Tour de San Luis."

While Phinney will go for glory in the time trial and maybe try his hands in a couple of sprints, the GC charge will be led by new signing Darwin Atapuma who will relish the opportunity to make his debut close to his Colombian home country. Another new rider, Peter Stetina, could have an impact on the GC as well as could returning riders Dominik Nerz and Lawrence Warbasse who are both strong climbers.

“We want to go there and do well, especially since this is one of our first races of the season," sports director Jackson Stewart said. "There is a flat time trial that will be good for Taylor Phinney and even some of our other guys. For the climbing stages, we'll have Darwin Atapuma, Dominik Nerz, Peter Stetina and Larry Warbasse. So I'm anxious to see how they fare in the GC hunt.

"I have been to Argentina four times," he added. "I used to go down there a lot because my mother lived there for eight years. The last time I was there was racing with the national team in the Pan American games in 2011. In Argentina in particular, you have to be ready for the differences between the roads and city streets that are not always the same as in other countries. It is a beautiful area for cycling, with amazing scenery and terrain. They have a bit of a cycling culture there, too, so there are a lot of fans and a lot of interest. We are definitely looking forward to it”.

The team will be completed by Manuel Quinziato who will use the race to prepare for the cobbled classics. The race starts on Monday, January 20.