Cannondale field most of their captains in the Giro del Trentino which starts today. Ivan Basso will use the race as one of his final hit-outs before the Giro d'Italia and will be formidably supported by Damiano Caruso while Moreno Moser will ease back into competition following a recent knee injury.

While the Giro d’Italia is approaching, Cannondale Pro Cycling takes confidence to the mountains attending the Giro del Trentino. A race that includes four stages, from April the 22nd to the 25th, will be an exciting challenge among the climbers with three summit finishes and an opening 14 km team time trial.

The Green Machine’s selection includes Captain Ivan Basso, who won the final classification for this race in 2009. After two weeks of altitude training on Mount Teide, the experienced Italian rider is facing the last step of his preparation for the Giro d’Italia.

“This is a key moment of my road to the Giro and I have to round off the details on my form,” said Basso. “A hard race such as the Giro del Trentino is what I need to consolidate the work I’ve done in the past months.

"Even if I didn’t get any important result in the races until now, I know all the efforts I did will pay off. The Trentino now and Tour de Romandie later will be the right steps to be one hundred percent ready for the Giro d’Italia.”

Together with Basso, other strong climbers such as Damiano Caruso will aim high at the Giro del Trentino, while this is home for rider Moreno Moser, this will be his return to racing after recovering from a recent knee injury. George Bennett, Cristiano Salerno and Davide Formolo (who also returns racing) will be the men in charge to shepherd the leaders on the mountains.

Elia Viviani and Fabio Sabatini will be key support in the time trial during the first stage and be important for good final results of the team. Team directors Biagio Conte and Mario Scirea will be the technical guides of the team.