Team Giant-Shimano goes into Il Lombardian with a clear plan to set up in-form Tom Dumoulin, Warren Barguil and Simon Geschke up for a good result. On Wednesday, the team will line up a young team in Milan-Turin.

Team Giant-Shimano lines-up for the first of two Italian races this week, at Milano-Torino on Wednesday.

A young team heads to the one-day race, including 22-year-old Lawson Craddock, 21-year-old Daan Olivier and also 20-year-old stagiaire Steven Lammertink.

The profile of the race is relatively steady and flat until the final 25km where two sharp climbs will effectively decide the outcome.

"We will head into this race with an open plan and the guys will have their chance to take their opportunities," said coach Addy Engels.

"Races like this at the end of the season are hard to predict in terms of form, but the final of this race definitely suits the specialists with the double climb to finish. We will see how some of the guys are going on the day. It will be a good chance to test themselves for those riders still feeling good at this point of the season."

The second race in Italy this week is the penultimate WorldTour outing of the season, the 'Race of the Falling Leaves' - Il Lombardia.

Team Giant-Shimano comes to this autumn classic with five riders from the World Championships road race - Warren Barguil, Tom Dumoulin, Simon Geschke, Tobias Ludvigsson and Georg Preidler.

They are joined by young Lawson Craddock, Dries Devenyns and Daan Olivier all of whom will have raced Milano-Torino on Wednesday.

Dumoulin finished 18th here last season and with the steps he has made this year, and the strong form he has shown of late - resulting in a bronze medal in the Worlds time trial - he'll be one to watch.

Barguil and Geschke also both showed strongly at the World Championships road race as will be looking to still be in the race deep into the final.

"Unlike Wednesday we head to Lombardy with a clear plan and with three strong leaders in Warren, Tom and Simon," said team coach Addy Engels.

"All three of these showed strongly at the World Championships on Sunday and have a strong support team around them here.

"Hopefully all three can still be there in the final and from there we will adapt to the situation on the road but having options presents up with a strong opportunity to play a part in the outcome of the race."

LINE-UP FOR MILAN-TURIN
Brian Bulgac (NED)
Lawson Craddock (USA)
Thomas Damuseau (FRA)
Dries Devenyns (BEL)
Chad Haga (USA)
Cheng Ji (CHN)
Daan Olivier (NED)
Steven Lammertink (NED)

LINE-UP FOR IL LOMBARDIA
Warren Barguil (FRA)
Lawson Craddock (USA)
Dries Devenyns (BEL)
Tom Dumoulin (NED)
Simon Geschke (GER)
Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE)
Daan Olivier (NED)
Georg Preidler (AUT)