On Friday one of the most famous Grand Tour has its 100th edition: 21 stages with 3615 kilometers, 2 individual time trials, 6 stages for sprinters, 8 medium mountain stages and 5 high mountain stages. The route brings this year’s Giro d’Italia from Sardinia, Sicily to the north of Italy with the finish in Milan. Nine young and highly motivated riders take on the fight for pink in the BORA – hansgrohe jersey.
“Our goal for this 100th edition of the Giro is to go for stage victories; for the GC we will take it day by day. I think we have some really good opportunities with Sam Bennett and Matteo Pelucchi in the sprints. Sam proved in Paris – Nice that he is an excellent sprinter and some stages in this year’s Giro suit him very well. But we will also try to win stages with Patrick Konrad in the mountains. Patrick had a good preparation for this Grand Tour and he is very motivated to make his mark in this 100th edition of the Giro d´Italia.” – Christian Pömer, sports director
“I am looking forward to this Giro d´Italia, it’s the 100th edition which is very special to be part of. My preparations went pretty well with the altitude camp in the Sierra Nevada, where I could do my training very individually this time. Of course, my goal is to win a stage. After my first WorldTour win in Paris-Nice, I am ready to take my first stage in a Grand Tour.” – Sam Bennett
“I am here as the team’s leader, which is a new situation for me. I hope to adapt well to this challenge and show that I have the potential to be a Grand Tour contender in the future. In this Giro, our big goal as a team is to take a stage win and I will also focus on that. I’ll try to take every opportunity that occurs. At one day, this may means I’ll struggle, but this is a risk I have to take. I don´t have any result in my mind for the GC, I want to ride aggressive and also try something in the high mountains in the last week. Then we’ll see the outcome.” – Patrick Konrad.
BORA – hansgrohe´s line-up for the100th Giro d´Italia:
Jan Barta / CZE
Cesare Benedetti / ITA
Sam Bennett / IRL
Patrick Konrad / AUT
José Mendes / POR
Gregor Mühlberger / AUT
Matteo Pelucchi / ITA
Lukas Pöstlberger / AUT
Rudi Selig / GER
