Poels chases stage success with ambitious Astana, and Movistar builds experienced team in support of their leader

First up is XDS-Astana, the team that is really in form. On Sunday, Alexandre Vinokourov's team, with Wout Poels, Matteo Malucelli, and Max Kanter, secured three victories and loads of UCI points. The Chinese-Kazakh team will be hoping to continue this form in Italy.

The team is counting on Poels, the brand-new winner of the Tour of Turkey, among others. The 37-year-old Dutch rider had a very good spring and will be hunting for a stage victory in the Giro to complete his trilogy of stage wins in the three grand tours. Vinokourov's team will also be looking to win stages with Kanter but in the more flat stages.

The team seems to be aiming high in the GC with Lorenzo Fortunato. The 28-year-old Italian recently won the Tour de Romandie stage and finished fourth overall. The climber from Bologna is competing in his fifth Giro, having already won on the legendary Monte Zoncolan in 2021. With Diego Ulissi, Christian Scaroni, Nicola Conci, Fausto Masnada, and Anton Kuzmin, Astana has lined up several attacking riders in a free role in pursuit of more UCI points.

The Spanish Movistar team also announced its selection for the 108th edition of the Giro on Monday via its team website. Eusebio Unzue's team has many different strategies at its disposal. While the team usually seems to aim for stage wins, a good GC finish with Einer Rubio may be the main goal. The Colombian climber is already lining up for his fifth consecutive Giro, having finished seventh last year. In 2023, he won the shortened stage to Crans-Montana.

To secure a good GC, the 27-year-old Rubio will have a lot of experience to back him up. His countryman and former Giro winner Nairo Quintana, and the experienced Davide Formolo and Albert Torres have been selected. For Formolo, it will be his ninth Giro d'Italia. Ten years ago, the now 32-year-old Italian won a stage in his first participation.

Movistar has another dangerous climber, Jefferson Cepeda, while Orluis Aular is a fast sprinter. Lorenzo Milesi, world time trial champion in the U23 category in 2023, will have to ensure a good result in the time trials, while Jon Barrentexea will hope to build on his recent third place in Eschborn-Frankfurt.

Wout Poels

Nairo Quintana