Cycling: 23 teams will tackle the 2021 Giro d'Italia on Saturday. With 8 professionals per team, this results in 184 participants. We'll be looking at all the teams, all the drivers and all their goals in the coming days.
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Click here for the Giro team presentation part #4
Ineos Grenadiers
Everything for Bernal's overall victory
The past year has given us many new insights during the corona pandemic. One of them is: The dominance of the Ineos Grenadiers team – formerly Team Sky – seems to be over. We saw this especially at the Tour de France. top favourite Egan Bernal collapsed and the team as a whole was unusually reticent. A new tactical style was established: Less control, more attacks. But at the Giro d'Italia, the British team will probably fall back into their old pattern. Because with Egan Bernal you put one of the two top favorites back on the overall victory. Be put aside especially with him Daniel Martinez and Pavel Shivakov strong climbers. Top time trialists were included in the squad for the level. Jonathan Castroviejo and Filippo Gana can also ensure stage victories in the fight against the clock. Gianni moscon is a man for breakaways - should Ineos Grenadiers want to actively fuel them at all.
The Ineos Grenadiers team for the 2021 Giro d'Italia
1) Egan Bernal
2) Jonathan Castroviejo
3) Filippo Ganna
4) Daniel Martínez
5) Gianni Moscon
6) Salvatore Puccio
7) Pavel Sivakov
8) Jonathan Narvaez
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AG2R—Citroen
Only fleeing forward can help
If we look at the AG2R - Citroen line-up, we quickly see the priorities of this team - and they are definitely not theirs Tour of Italy. The French team leaves the top drivers at home. You should shine in a few weeks at the Tour de France in your own country. Accordingly, we can expect little from AG2R - Citroen at the Giro d'Italia 2021. With Tony gallopin After all, you send an old hand to Italy who can walk in groups and, as a professional with sprints and hills, could perhaps even win a stage there. Also Alexis Gougeard has distinguished itself as an outlier on hilly terrain in recent years. If you go to the mountains you will feel good François Bidard and Geoffrey Bouchard send on the offensive. After all, the last-mentioned won the mountain classification at the Vuelta a Espana two years ago. The Giro d'Italia 2021 will have a similar goal. In mass sprints you will be too weak and nobody will be there for the general classification. The only way forward is to flee. With this, AG2R – Citroen will definitely liven up the race.
The Giro squad of AG2R - Citroen
11) Tony Gallopin
12) François Bidard
13) Geoffrey Bouchard
14) Clement Champoussin
15) Alexis Gougeard
16) Lawrence Naesen
17) Andrea Vendrame
18) Larry Warbasse
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Alpecin-Fenix
Merlier is to win a stage
No question: Tim Merlier is at this Tour of Italy the star of the team. In the absence of Mathieu van der Poel, the entire squad will focus on him. With three victories this year, he is rightly one of the best sprinters in the main field. He is supported in the sprint preparation, among other things, by the German Alexander Krieger and the Belgian Dries de Bondt. The rest of the squad also feels more comfortable on the flat, so we will definitely see them in a breakaway group on this terrain once in a while. If things go uphill, that's really all we can do on the offensive Louis Vervaeke expect. The Alpecin – Fenix team will not uproot trees in their first Giro d'Italia.
The 8 starters for the Alpecin – Fenix team
21) Tim Merlier
22) Dries De Bondt
23) Jimmy Janssens
24) Alexander Warrior
25) Senne Leysen
26) Oscar Riesebeek
27) Gianni Vermeersch
28) Louis Vervaeke
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Androni Giocattoli - Sidermec
Attack, attack, attack
The Italian team Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec, which has been part of the Giro d'Italia for years, is also hoping for a stage win. Without an absolute top driver in the team, the only thing left for them to do is to drive aggressively. Jefferson Cepeda – Fourth at this year’s Tour of the Alps – and Edward Sepulveda – Third at this year's Tour of Turkey – clearly have their strengths in the mountains. The rest of the team will support the two and give themselves freedom on flat and hilly terrain or show themselves in the bunch sprints. With this strong competition, however, a sprint success is not really to be expected. We can be curious about the Ukrainian Andri Ponomar, who will be tackling his first Grand Tour when he is only 18 and is therefore still a blank slate.
The squad of Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec
31) Jefferson Cepeda
32) Simon Pellaud
33) Andri Ponomar
34) Simone Ravanelli
35) Edward Sepulveda
36) Filippo Tagliani
37) Natnael Tesfatsion
38) Nicola Venchiarutti
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Astana-Premier Tech
Is Vlasov ready yet?
The Kazakh team Astana has been an integral part of the field for years. The team was rarely unsuccessful, which is of course due to a strong squad, but also to an always very offensive driving style. We can also expect this at the Giro d'Italia 2021. old master Luis Leon Sanchez is a born runaway, which he will definitely show us again here in Italy. Fabio Fellina will hope that he has a chance of winning the stage on a slightly bumpy section if the fastest sprinters have already flown out of the peloton. But the main focus is very clear Aleksandr Vlasov. The Russian will start the tour as the sole captain and should achieve a good position in the overall standings. In the person of Gorka Izagirre he can rely on a true noble helper.
Astana - Premier Tech at Giro d'Italia 2021
41) Alexandr Vlasov
42) Samuele Battistella
43) Fabio Fellina
44) Gorka Izagirre
45) Vadim Pronsky
46) Luis Leon Sanchez
47) Matteo Sobrero
48) Harold Tejada
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Bahrain–Victorious
Landa or Bilbao?
At Bahrain – Victorious, too, the alignment is clear. With Mikel Landa do you want to win the Giro d'Italia? But the Spaniard has repeatedly disappointed in recent years when he should pull the coals out of the fire as captain. Is it the same this time? bilbao hair ready. In 2020, the Spaniard finished fifth overall at the Giro d'Italia. Two years earlier he was sixth. So the question arises whether Bahrain - Victorious really puts everything on Landa, or whether they start with a double lead. Either way, we'll be seeing the red and orange kit a lot in the coming weeks. Because with the Swiss Gino Mader and the Slovenian Matej Mohoric there are two very offensive professionals in the squad. Of course, they have to submit to their leaders, but they will certainly be given free rein on one or the other stage. Mohoric in particular should be keeping an eye on the stage that leads through his home country. The same applies to Mäder and the sections in Switzerland.
Bahrain's 8 Giro Starters – Victorious
51) Mikel Landa
52) Yukiya Arashiro
53) Pello Bilbao
54) Damian Caruso
55) Gino Mader
56) Matej Mohoric
57) Jan Tratnik
58) Rafael Valls
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