Trek Factory Racing signs Stetina

After a long recover from a traumatic injury this spring, Peter Stetina is on the mend, and he’s capped off two successful weeks of racing in Utah and Colorado by signing with Trek Factory Racing for 2016.

The 28-year-old American joins the team to support the squad’s stage race leaders, such as newly signed Canadian Ryder Hesjedal, who he raced with during his stint on the Garmin team. Stetina will also focus on the week-long races in North America, such as the Amgen Tour of California.

“I’m stoked about this,” said Stetina. “It’s a good move for me, I think. Because of my injury, my position on the transfer market was a bit different. Teams don’t want ‘damaged goods,’ you know. But Luca [Guercilena] has been in close contact with me all along the recovery. He was very supportive.”

Stetina fractured his right tibia, patella, and five ribs in a crash at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco in April. He made one of the fastest recoveries on record to come back at the Tour of Utah and went on to support his BMC team’s overall success at the USA Pro Challenge last week.

“Peter has been through a rough time these past months,” Guercilena said. “We want to give him the opportunity to come back to the highest level of racing and show his capacity. We want to support him to reach his best possible level.”

Though Stetina didn’t light up the Tour of Utah or the USA Pro Challenge, he exceeded expectations in the two climbing-heavy American stage races. “I started the Tour of Utah on just three weeks of training,” he said. “The suffering on the bike didn’t hurt so much, and I finished with some really good sensations. A lot of people are asking me if I think I can come back to my old level. I believe I can, and TFR is the right program to make the next step towards a full recovery.”