BMC heads into the Tour of California as the defending champion and the rider that will try to make it two in a row for the American team is new signing Peter Stetina. For the first time ever, the American will be a leader in a major race while Taylor Phinney will be on hand to target the time trial.

Santa Rosa, California resident Peter Stetina says he is looking forward to leading the BMC Racing Team at the Amgen Tour of California. Stetina returns to the race for the first time since 2010 and a year after teammate Tejay van Garderen won the overall.

"I have never actually been in a protected role like this, so this will be a new opportunity that I have been chomping at the bit for and one that I am excited for," Stetina said. "Stepping into a leadership role is a completely different responsibility. There is an added pressure. I hope I can thrive under it and I am excited to take it head-on."

The eight-day race begins Sunday in Sacramento and features a 20.1-kilometer individual time trial in Folsom on Stage 2 and a pair of mountain-top finishes at Mount Diablo State Park (Stage 3) and Mountain High (Stage 6) before ending with a circuit race in Thousand Oaks.

"I think the time trial is extremely important," Stetina said. "Mount Diablo is not very steep until the very final. So I think there are going to be bigger time gaps for the time trial than on Diablo. And then Mountain High is a hard climb. You definitely have to have a good time trial to contend for the overall."

The squad built around Stetina includes past Amgen Tour stage winner and reigning Norwegian national road champion Thor Hushovd, Dubai Tour winner and past U.S. national time trial champion Taylor Phinney, Ronde van Vlaanderen runner-up Greg Van Avermaet and current Swiss national road champion Michael Schär.

BMC Racing Team Sport Director Max Sciandri said the race will play to the team's strengths.

"We have a very balanced and motivated team," he said. "The guys will be working hard around Peter and we have Taylor there for the time trial, plus everyone will be stage hunting in a way."

BMC Racing Team Amgen Tour of California Roster (May 11-18):
Thor Hushovd (NOR), Martin Kohler (SUI), Amaël Moinard (FRA), Taylor Phinney (USA), Michael Schär (SUI), Peter Stetina (USA), Greg Van Avermaet (BEL), Larry Warbasse (USA).