Deceuninck-QuickStep climber James Knox will return to the Giro d'Italia this year, making his Grand Tour debut alongside 20-year-old Remco Evenpoel.

The 24-year-old Knox will resume his season on August 5 at the Tour de Pollogne.

The Briton made his breakthrough a year ago at the Vuelta a España, finishing 11th overall in the Spanish Grand Tour and fourth in the Alto de la Cubilla summit finish. He is currently at the Detunink-Quick Step training camp in the Dolomites, preparing for his return to racing next month.

"For me as a climber, these camps are really meaningful," he said. Not only is alpine training an area where I want to succeed, but I think staying at altitude really helps."

"Plus there's the team environment here. It's not quite like racing, but we can push each other as a team and train harder than we would individually."

"Lockdown wasn't easy, and not having a race since early spring wasn't easy either. So joining the Wolfpack for this 18-day training camp at Val di Fassa was a welcome change. There is a great atmosphere here and everyone is desperate to get back to racing as soon as possible.

Knox said the training camp, which ran from July 6-23, was the final step in his return to racing; Poland will be the first time the 24-year-old has raced since joining the UAE Tour in February.

"There is still a bit of time before the first race, but as a big block of training it is the last piece of the puzzle, and from here it is just a matter of fine-tuning to be ready to race when I start at the Tour de Pollogne," Knox said. [At last year's Tour de Pollogne, I finished in the top 10 overall. I had a great Vuelta a España experience from Poland.

"Of course, things will be different now, but on the other hand, nothing has changed in terms of my eagerness to get back to racing.

Knox and Evenpoel will compete in the Giro with sprinter Fabio Jacobsen, while the Belgian team will send Julian Alaphilippe and Sam Bennett to the Tour de France.

Deceuninck-QuickStep will return to racing next Tuesday at the Vuelta a Burgos, with Evenpoel, Bennett, Yves Lampert, Michal Morquoff, Andrea Bajoli, Joao Almeida, and Shane Archibald on the starting list.