Dubai: UAE Team Emirates will be hunting stage victories at the Giro d’Italia as Colombian sprinter, Fernando Gaviria tops the line-up of riders looking for success at the opening Grand Tour of the season, which begins on Saturday.
Despite only one previous appearance at Italy’s most famous race, Gaviria has four stage wins under his belt — all picked up in his debut Giro in 2017. It was a race to remember for the youngster, who went on to pick up the Maglia Ciclamino (Points jersey). He will be hopeful of a repeat performance this time round and will count on the support of teammates Diego Ulissi, Jan Polanc, Juan Sebastian Molano, Simone Consonni, Tom Bohli, Marco Marcato and Valerio Conti.
While Molano and Bohli make their race debuts, there’s plenty of experience among the ranks too. Ulissi has six stage wins at the Giro d’Italia, while Jan Polanc has two stage victories to his name, making this a well-rounded group looking to compete for stage honours.
The Giro d’Italia will see the peloton tackle 21 stages across three weeks of intense cycling, taking in a range of parcours including sprint, hilly and mountain stages. Kicking off in Bologna, the opening stage is an 8km individual time trial and should set us up nicely for what to expect over the coming weeks.
