Giro d’Italia expects this year, just like in the previous ones, the best 22 cycling teams which have shown their great skills in different WorldTour races held thorough the year.
These teams have received a personal invitation to participate and perform their best in one of the biggest cycling events in the world such as Giro d’Italia.
In total, there are 22 teams to participate in the 100th edition of Giro d’Italia from which only two of them are Italian: Wilier-Selle Italia and Bardiani –CSF.
It is expected each team to have and race with its best 9 riders expect the Astana team which will ride with only 8 riders since Michele Scarponi, the Giro champion was killed earliest this month while training for this competition. His team members are expected to honor his memory, passion dedication since the start of the big race.
Final pre @giroditalia training for #BAHRAINMERIDA guys. One day left to #Giro100! ☀ #Sardinia pic.twitter.com/UbSWhes4ks
— Team Bahrain Merida (@Bahrain_Merida) May 4, 2017
Alexandre Vinokourov, general manager of the team, said earlier this week in an interview: “What has happened to Michele was a real tragedy. It is a huge blow for the whole team.
Michele should have been our leader for the Giro and for this reason we decided not to replace Michele in the line-up, leaving his race number free. I think this is the right decision and I am sure the organizers of the Giro d’Italia as well as the whole cycling community will accept and understand it.”
We are ready for the start of the @giroditalia! pic.twitter.com/L0t6mjjGji
— Bauke Mollema (@BaukeMollema) May 4, 2017
Giro d’Italia insights
Being one of the biggest cycling races and events in the world today, Girdo d’Italia has always been in the main focus of every professional cyclist’s career.
This year, the race is expected to be as challenging as it has been every other year to bring out which the best of the best in the cycling world are.
The total longevity of the route is 3,572.2 kilometers. Last year, Vincenzo Nibali from Astana team was the one to deserve the crown. This year, there are many talented and hardworking teams and cyclists that have brought with them the faith of finishing the race as the ultimate winners… It’s up to us to wait and see the biggest triumph.
My beauty for this @giroditalia! pic.twitter.com/spdBsPO6eE
— Manuel Quinziato (@manuelquinziato) May 4, 2017
Provisional participating teams
– Ag2r-La Mondiale (Fra)
General Manager: Vincent Lavenu
Bike: Factor
Title sponsor: Personal insurance
Team members: Julien Bérard (Fra), Clément Cevrier (Fra), Quentin Jaurégui (Fra), Hubert Dupont (Fra), Ben Gastauer (Lux), Alexandre Geniez (Fra), Matteo Montaguti (Ita), François Bidard (Fra), Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita).
– Astana (Kaz)
General Manager: Alexandre Vinokourov
Bike: Argon 18
Title sponsor: Kazakh business consortium
Team members: Pello Bilbao (Spa), Jesper Hansen (Den), Tanel Kangert (Est), Dario Cataldo (Ita), Luis León Sánchez (Spa), Andrey Zeits (Kaz), Paolo Tiralongo (Ita), Zhandos Bizigitov (Kaz).
– Bahrain-Merida (Brn)
General Manager: Brent Copeland
Bike: Merida
Title sponsor: Kingdom of Bahrain and Taiwanese bike manufacturer
Team members: Manuele Boaro (Ita), Enrico Gasparotto (Ita), Valerio Agnoli (Ita), Giovanni Visconti (Ita), Javier Moreno (Spa), Vincenzo Nibali (Ita), Franco Pellizotti (Ita), Luka Pibernik (Slo), Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr).
– Bora-Hansgrohe (Ger)
General Manager: Ralph Denk
Bike: Specialized
Title sponsor: German manufacturers specialising in cooking surfaces and bathroom products
Team members: Cesare Benedetti (Ita), Sam Bennett (Irl), Jan Barta (Cze), Patrick Konrad (Aut), Jose Mendes (Por), Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut, neo-pro), Gregor Mühlberger (Aut, neo-pro), Matteo Pelucchi (Ita), Rudiger Selig (Ger).
– BMC Racing (US)
General Manager: Jim Ochowicz
Bike: BMC
Title sponsor: Swiss bicycle manufacturer
Team members: Francisco Ventoso (Spa), Rohan Dennis (Aus), Dylan Teuns (Bel), Silvan Dillier (Swi), Ben Hermans (Bel), Manuel Quinziato (Ita), Joey Rosskopf (US), Manuel Senni (Ita), Tejay van Garderen (US).
– Cannondale-Drapac (US)
General Manager: Jonathan Vaughters
Bike: Cannondale
Title sponsor: US bicycle manufacturer and Australian-American management firm
Bike: Cannondale
Team members: Joe Dombrowski (US), Tom-Jelte Slagter (Hol), Davide Formolo (Ita), Hugh Carthy (GB), Alex Howes (US), Kristijan Koren (Slo), Pierre Rolland (Fra), Davide Villella (Ita), Michael Woods (Can).
– FDJ (Fra)
General Manager: Marc Madiot
Bike: Lapierre
Title sponsor: French national lottery
Team members: Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe), Rudy Molard (Fra), William Bonnet (Fra), Mattieu Ladagnous (Fra), Steve Morabito (Swi), Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi), Jérémy Roy (Fra), Thibaut Pinot (Fra), Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra).
– Dimension Data (SA)
General Manager: Doug Ryder
Bike: Cervelo
Title sponsor: Information technology company
Team members: Ryan Gibbons (SA), Nathan Haas (Aus), Igor Antón (Spa), Kristian Sbaragli (Ita), Natnael Berhane (Eri), Omar Fraile (Spa), Jacques Janse van Rensburg (SA), Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri), Johann van Zyl (SA).
– Katusha-Alpecin (Swi)
General Manager: Jose Azevedo
Bike: Canyon
Title sponsors: Russian business conglomerate and German shampoo manufacturer
Team members: Jose Goncalves (Por), Robert Kiserlovski (Cro), Pavel Kochetkov (Rus), Ángel Vicioso (Spa), Vyacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus), Alberto Losada (Spa), Maxim Belkov (Rus), Matvey Mamykin (Rus, neo-pro), Ilnur Zakarin (Rus).
– Lotto–Soudal (Bel)
General Manager: Marc Sergeant
Bike: Ridley
Title sponsor: Belgian national lottery and adhesives manufacturer
Team members: Sean De Bie (Bel), Jasper De Buyst (Bel), Lars Bak (Den), Bart De Clercq (Bel), Adam Hansen (Aus), Moreno Hofland (Hol), André Greipel (Ger), Tomasz Marczynski (Pol), Maxime Monfort (Bel).
– Orica-Scott (Aus)
General Manager: Shayne Bannan
Bike: Scott
Title sponsors: Mining services and Swiss bike manufacturer
Team members: Michael Hepburn (Aus), Caleb Ewan (Aus), Christopher Juul-Jensen (Den), Luka Mezgec (Slo), Rubén Plaza (Spa), Svein Tuft (Can), Alex Edmondson (Aus, neo-pro), Carlos Verona (Spa), Adam Yates (GB).
– Lotto NL-Jumbo (Hol)
General Manager: Richard Plugge
Bike: Bianchi
Title sponsors: Dutch national lottery and supermarket chain
Team members: Victor Campenaerts (Bel), Twan Castelijns (Hol), Jurgen Van den Broeck (Bel), Stef Clement (Hol), Martijn Keizer (Hol), Steven Kruijswijk (Hol), Enrico Battaglin (Ita), Bram Tankink (Hol), Jos van Emden (Hol).
– Movistar (Spa)
General Manager: Eusebio Unzué
Bike: Canyon
Title sponsor: Spanish mobile telephone company
Team members: Winner Anacona (Col), Andrey Amador (Crc), Víctor de la Parte (Spa), José Herrada (Spa), Gorka Izagirre (Spa), Nairo Quintana (Col), Daniele Bennati (Ita), José Joaquín Rojas (Spa), Rory Sutherland (Aus).
– Quick-Step Floors (Bel)
General Manager: Patrick Lefévère
Bike: Specialized
Title sponsor: Laminate flooring manufacturers
Team members: Eros Capecchi (Ita), Dries Devenyns (Bel), Laurens De Plus (Bel, neo-pro), Fernando Gaviria (Col), Philippe Gilbert (Bel), Iljo Keisse (Bel), Davide Martinelli (Ita), Bob Jungels (Lux), Maximiliano Richeze (Arg), Pieter Serry (Bel).
– Team Sky (GB)
General Manager: Sir Dave Brailsford
Bike: Pinarello
Title sponsor: Satellite broadcaster
Team members: Michal Golas (Pol), Sebastian Henao (Col), Mikel Landa (Spa), Salvatore Puccio (Ita), Diego Rosa (Ita), Vasil Kiryienka (Blr), Philip Deignan (Irl), Kenny Elissonde (Fra), Geraint Thomas (GB).
– Trek-Segafredo (US)
General Manager: Luca Guercilena
Bike: Trek
Title sponsors: US bicycle manufacturer and Italian coffee brand
Team members: Julien Bernard (Fra, neo-pro), Eugenio Alafaci (Ita), Laurent Didier (Lux), Eugenio Alafaci (Ita), Jesús Hernández (Spa), Bauke Mollema (Hol), Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita), Peter Stetina (US), Jasper Stuyven (Bel).
– Wilier-Selle Italia (Ita)
General Manager: Angelo Citracca
Bike: Wilier Triestina
Title sponsor: Italian bike producer and saddle manufacturer
Team members: Daniel Felipe Martínez (Col), Manuel Belletti (Ita), Matteo Busato (Ita), Ilia Koshevoy (Blr), Jakub Mareczko (Ita), Cristian Rodríguez Martin (Spa), Filippo Pozzato (Ita).
– Sunweb (Hol)
General Manager: Iwan Spekenbrink
Bike: Giant
Title sponsor: Dutch tour operator
Team members: Simon Geschke (Ger), Chad Haga (US), Tom Dumoulin (Hol), Wilco Kelderman (Hol), Georg Preidler (Aut), Phil Bauhaus (Ger), Laurens ten Dam (Hol), Sindre Skjoestad (Nor), Tom Stamsnijder (Hol).
– UAE Team Emirates (UAE)
General Manager: Giuseppe Saronni
Bike: Colnago
Title sponsor: Emirates
Nine-man team: Rui Costa (Por), Roberto Ferrari (Ita), Valerio Conti (Ita), Simone Petilli (Ita, neo-pro), Marco Marcato (Ita), Sacha Modolo (Ita), Matej Mohoric (Slo), Jan Polanc (Slo), Edward Ravasi (Ita, neo-pro).
– Gazprom-Rusvelo (Rus)
General Manager: Renat Khamidulin
Bike: Colnago
Title sponsor: Gas company
Team members: Pavel Brutt (Rus), Ivan Rovny (Rus), Alexander Foliforov (Rus), Dmitriy Kozontchuk (Rus), Serguei Firsanov (Rus), Sergey Lagutin (Rus), Evgeny Shalunov (Rus), Alexey Tsatevitch (Rus).
– Bardiani-CSF (Ita)
General Manager: Roberto Reverberi
Bike: MCipollini
Title sponsor: Producers of industrial valves and centrifugal pumps
Nine-man team: Enrico Barbin (Ita), Vincenzo Albanese (Ita), Nicola Boem (Ita), Giulio Cicconi (Ita), Mirco Maestri (Ita), Stefano Pirazzi (Ita), Simone Andreetta (Ita), Nicola Ruffoni (Ita), Lorenzo Rota (Ita).
– CCC Sprandi (Pol)
General Manager: Marek Lesniewski
Bike: Guerciotti
Title sponsor: Shoes and bags manufacturer
Team members: Marcin Bialoblocki (Po), Felix Grosschartner, Jan Hirt (Cze), Lukasz Owsian (Pol), Maciej Paterski (Pol), Simone Ponzi (Ita), Branislau Samoilau (Blr), Michal Schlegel (Cze), Jan Tratnik (Cze).
Everything is ready for the Team Presentation of Giro d’Italia 2017! #Giro100 pic.twitter.com/FlDUWfpxTJ
— Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia) May 4, 2017
