Team Bahrain Victorious have announced their lineup for the Giro d’Italia, the first Grand Tour of the year, which this year features three time trials and six mountain stages, over 3489 kilometres in total.
Bahrain Victorious head to the ‘Grande Partenza’ in Abruzzo with Jack Haig as leader. The Australian has started the Giro twice in his career, but always riding in support of another. He arrives on the back of a podium at The Tour of the Alps, and promising form in all four stage races in which he has participated this year.
As usual the ‘percorso’ suits the climbers. The riders will tackle a total of 51,400 metres of altitude gain, including three stages with over 5,000m each, and over 70km against the clock.
Supporting Jack in the mountains will be Damiano Caruso, second in the Giro two years ago, and making his sixth appearance at his home Grand Tour. Alongside them Gino Mäder also takes to the startline for the second time, having won stage 6 in 2021. Columbian Santiago Buitrago travels to Italy after a standout third place finish at Liège-Bastogne-Liège last week, his third race podium of the season. The 23 year old made his Giro debut 12 months ago, winning the 17th stage. Completing the list of climbers is Edoardo Zambanini, who competed in his first Grand Tour at the 2022 Vuelta a España, riding for Mikel Landa.
Endless
The opening week has a mix of profiles, topped and tailed by relatively flat time trials of 19 and 35 kilometres on stages 1 and 9. In between are days for sprinters and puncheurs, and the first real mountain test, stage 7, which concludes with a seemingly endless ascent to the Gran Sasso d’Italia at 2,130m.
After the first rest day and a journey to the West of the peninsula, the peloton face three fairly straightforward days before the GC battle comes back into focus. The Giro crosses into Switzerland on stage 13, midway through which appears the highest point of the race, the ‘Cima Coppi’, at the Col du Grand Saint-Bernard (2469m).
The demanding Croix de Coeur follows, ahead of a summit finish atop the 1st category Crans-Montana.
There are six days when the fast men will believe they can take victory, and six hilly stages to entice the breakaway specialists. Bahrain will be hoping to challenge on those too, Jonathan Milan, Olympic gold medallist on the track, the designated sprinter. Supporting him on the flat is fellow Italian Andrea Pasqualon, and the experienced Jasha Sütterlin, returning for his third Giro. Their primary role will, of course, be to look after the team’s GC riders, but in the right circumstances may be given the freedom to fight for win.
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