Having gained ProTeam status prior to this season, Argos-Shimano prepares to make its debut appearance in the Giro d'Italia in a few weeks time. Today the team named a 13-rider long list from which the final 9-rider line-up will be chosen.

In its first years of existence, the Dutch Argos-Shimano team had to fight for wild card invitations to the grand tours. While it was successful in gaining access to the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana, the team never had the opportunity to participate in the Giro d'Italia.

Having been given ProTeam status prior to this season, the team not only has the right to participate in the Italian grand tour, they are even obliged to be on the start line in Naples on May 4. Today's release of a long list is an indication of a serious preparation of the team's debut appearance.

“We are very pleased to take part in the Giro d’Italia, our first in the team’s history,” general manager Iwan Spekenbrink said. “It will definitely be an interesting and challenging race, it looks balanced but not easy."

The team has traditionally not had any GC riders and mainly focused on stage victories with sprinters Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb or their aggressive attackers. They plan to use the same strategy in the Italian race and all riders will be free to pursue that goal.

The most prominent name on the long list is that of Degenkolb. The German skipped the Tour last year to focus on the Olympics and had a highly successful Vuelta in which he won no less than 5 stages.

This year he plans to make his debut in the Tour de France where he will share sprinting duties with Kittel but he may choose to include the Italian grand tour in his build-up for the Tour.

Classics specialist Koen De Kort is also on the list after having just finished a disappointing classics campaign. A collarbone fracture suffered in the Tour of Qatar prevented him from reaching peak condition in the major one-day races and he could line up at the Giro as an important lead-out man for Degenkolb while also having the opportunity to go on the attack.

Young talent Tobias Ludvigsson could make his grand tour debut after a strong first part of the season. He finished on the podium in the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen and the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe and with his strong climbing and time trial abilities, he could target some of the stages in which Argos-Shimano has traditionally not had a major impact.

Time trial specialist Patrick Gretsch, fast neo-professional Luka Mezgec, American climber Tom Peterson and the Austrian talent Georg Preidler are other interesting names on the long list which is competed by Bert De Backer, Thomas Damuseau, Cheng Ji, Matthieu Sprick, Tom Stamsnijder and Albert Timmer.

“We have a good mix of riders on the team, and we will have several options," Spekenbrink said. "In addition to experienced riders, we have preselected some young riders who we think are ready to step up and participate in a big race like the Giro d’Italia.”

The team has not set any date for the release of its final line-up.

Argos-Shimano long list for the Giro d'Italia

Bert de Backer (BEL)
Thomas Damuseau (FRA)
John Degenkolb (GER)
Patrick Gretsch (GER)
Cheng Ji (CHN)
Koen de Kort (NED)
Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE)
Luka Mezgec (SLO)
Tom Peterson (USA)
Georg Preidler (AUT)
Matthieu Sprick (FRA)
Tom Stamsnijder (NED)
Albert Timmer (NED)