Team Giant-Alpecin is pleased to announce its final nine-rider line-up for the first Grand Tour of the 2016 season, the Giro d’Italia, which starts in Apeldoorn on May 6.

The team announced last week that Tom Dumoulin (NED) would definitely be lining up for his first Giro d'Italia, and he will be joined by a strong team with riders who can take their chances in the sprints and also in the breakaways if and when the opportunities arise.

“I am really looking forward to the Giro d’Italia this year,” Dumoulin said. “It will be my first Giro and with the start in The Netherlands, it is going to be extra special. I think it is going to be a fantastic race to participate in. I will be focusing primarily on the time trials, as they provide a greater opportunity for success."

Team Giant-Alpecin will also be targeting the sprints with Nikias Arndt (GER), where in the first week there should be different opportunities for a bunch sprint. The opportunists in the line-up include Chad Haga (USA), Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE) and Georg Preidler (AUT) who are all capable of getting in the breakaways and fighting for a stage victory as well as proving their strength against the clock. 

Speaking about the line-up for the Giro, coach Marc Reef said: "Our target is to go for a stage victory. We'll have different opportunities in the time trials and the sprint stages. On top of that, we will apply an offensive strategy to aim for stage results from possible breakaways that survive until the finish."

LINE-UP
Nikias Arndt (GER)
Bert De Backer (BEL)
Tom Dumoulin (NED)
Chad Haga (USA)
Cheng Ji (CHN)
Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE)
Georg Preidler (AUT)
Tom Stamsnijder (NED)
Albert Timmer (NED)