Hagens Berman Axiom has decided to register 13 athletes for the 2021 season, including seven U23 development athletes from three countries.

Teams registered in the US will continue at the UCI Continental level and focus on European races.

Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, and with precautions still being taken at the beginning of the year, teams are considering holding a training camp in Italy during the first 10 days of March instead of the end of this month. That way, the team would be ready for its first competition, scheduled for March 14 in Dorpenomloop Lukfen, the Netherlands.

The quintet of Americans joining the team will be led by 19-year-old Lucas Burgoyne, who won two stages and points honors at the 2019 Tour de Rabiti. Colby Lange has won nine medals on the road and track, including a victory as US Junior Criterium champion in 2017. For the past two seasons he has been a member of Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling.

Simon Jones and Samuel Janisch raced in the Hincapie program last year. The youngest rider in the group is now 18-year-old Matthew Riccitello, who finished second at the 2019 U.S. Junior ITT Nationals and was the best young rider at the Tour de Rabiti that same year.

Englishman Joseph Laverick, who was eighth at the 2018 Junior TT World Championships, added firepower to the team, as did Portugal's talented Diogo Barbosa, who finished in the top 20 in both road and TT at his national championships.

Among the six returning riders is Ian's younger brother, 19-year-old Michael Garrison, now with Deceuninck-QuickStep. His brother Garrison won the GC at the 2019 Tour de Rabitibi, placed 4th at the 2019 Paris-Roubaix Junior and 12th in the road race at the Junior World Championships.

The team will switch from Pinarello Dogma F10 bikes to the F12, the same frame used by Ineos Grenadier. All components will be provided by SRAM, one of the few sponsors that has supported Hagens Berman Axion since the beginning of 2008, when the team raced as Trek LIVESTRONG. Hagens Berman Axiom will be presenting a new kit design at the camp.

Title sponsorship from Hagens Berman, a Seattle law firm that became a top partner during a two-year upgrade at the Professional Continental (ProTeam) level, will continue for a fifth year, but additional funding was needed to make 2021 happen In November, partial funding was secured by team manager Axel Merckx to stabilize the program.

"We needed 300,000 euros with the team as a budget for 2021, but we secured almost half," Merckx told La Dernière Heure in November.

While this budget will allow the team to continue basic operations and "not turn down a race," team press officer Chad Childers said the influx of support will make it easier for everyone to camp in Europe and start the season

"We're going to have a lot of people in Europe.

"The new funding from our private partners has helped us bridge the gap and put us in a position to have a good race program, but we are still actively pursuing sponsorship opportunities in hopes of being able to operate at 100%," Childers told Cycling News.

"A few years ago we stayed in Fayetteville, Arkansas for camping and headed to South America for the start of the season. This year, with the coronavirus spreading, that won't be the case. The team is hungry and ready to race because there were so few races last year."

As a training ground for up-and-coming young riders, five positions have been vacated by riders who have been promoted to the professional team or World Tour level. American Kevin Vermaerke signed a three-year contract with Team DSM, Denmark's Jakob Egholm moved to Trek Segafredo, and Portugal's Andre Carvalho moved to Cofidis. American Edward Anderson and Belgian Jens Reijnders moved to Alpecin Phoenix and Sport Vlaanderen Valoise, respectively.

This Giro d'Italia saw the opening of the season with overall champion Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers), Joao Almeida (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Will Barta (EF Education Nippo), who finished second in the final TT for the CCC team, and Other graduates also showed their talent on the WorldTour stage, including Mikel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates), who finished on the podium twice in Italy, including third in the TT.