This Saturday is the first Grand Tour of the season, in the country of pasta and steep-climbs, the Giro d'Italia.
 

Team Giant-Alpecin will line up with a team that has opportunities for more than one rider to compete for stage victory. The team’s sprinter, Luka Mezgec (SLO), will be joined by riders with lead-out capabilities, including Nikias Arndt (GER), Bert De Backer (NED) and Tom Stamsnijder (NED), as well as riders such as Simon Geschke (GER) and Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE) who can take their chances in the breakaways if and when the opportunities arise. 

This will be the first appearance in the Giro d’Italia for Americans Chad Haga and Caleb Fairly. Haga rode his first Grand Tour, the Vuelta a España, last year, and Fairly did the same at the 2013 Vuelta. The first Chinese rider ever to start in the Giro d’Italia, Cheng Ji, will be present again at the starting line in San Lorenzo.

“After Catalunya I spent four weeks in full and specific preparation for the Giro, including sleeping in an altitude room and maintaining close contact with our trainer, Adriaan Helmantel. This was ideal because we could fine-tune my training plan along the way based on how I felt and by monitoring the impact the training had on my body," Mezgec said.

“The form is good, so I am excited to start the race. I expect a hard Giro. There are a lot of hilly stages, and those are sometimes harder than mountain stages.

“We have a really strong and balanced team here, so we have several opportunities for good results. My goals are certainly the sprints in the flat stages, and I hope I will be able to repeat last year’s success with a stage win.”

"I am currently much fresher mentally than I was last year at this time. Due to a broken collarbone, which I suffered in Tirreno-Adriatico, I have had fewer racing days and have spent my time mainly on training," Geschke said.

“Racing in a Grand Tour after a period of training will be a new experience for me, and we will see how I handle that. I hope I can compete for a stage win here in Italy. My focus will be on the breakaways or reduced bunch sprints.

“I looking forward to racing again, I am confident to back on my old level and we will see how we can convert that into some nice results here in the Giro.”

"I came good out of the Tour de Romandie in good shape and I am ready for the Giro," Ji said.

“I’m happy to return to the Giro d’Italia. After making my debut in 2013 as the first Chinese participant, I was disappointed to abandon the race after I got sick. For this year my goal is to support the team well, and if everything goes as planned I will be the first Chinese rider ever to finish all three Grand Tours. 

“Since I have competed in all three Grand Tours already, most of the nervousness is replaced by excitement.

“We have a mixed team here that is not focused solely on the lead-out. On the flat stages I will support and protect Luka [Mezgec]. On the other stages we will aim to attack, and I will possibly be one of those attackers, but it depends on the team’s strategy, which has not been finalized for all the stages yet.”