Team Giant-Shimano have announced their roster for the Giro d'Italia and the Dutch team will head to Italy with a focus on stage wins. Supported by lead-out men Tom Veelers, Luka Mezgec, Bert De Backer and Albert Timmer, Marcel Kittel leads the team in the flat stages where Tom Stamsnijder will do his usual job of chasing down breakaways, while Simon Geschke, Tobias Ludvigsson and Georg Preidler will go on the attack in the hillier stages.

Team Giant-Shimano is pleased to announce the final nine-rider line-up for the first Grand Tour of the 2014 season, the Giro d’Italia that starts in Belfast on 9th May.
 
The team announced earlier in the month that Marcel Kittel would definitely be lining up in Belfast, and he will be joined by a strong team with both lead-out capabilities and also riders who can take their chances in the breakaways if and when the opportunities arise.
 
As well as Kittel, Team Giant-Shimano target the sprints with young Slovenian, Luka Mezgec who has already got four wins under his belt this season, showing the progress he has made since 2013.
 
The opportunists in the line-up include Simon Geschke who will head to the Giro following a strong showing in the Ardennes classics, as well as Tobias Ludvigsson who has also experienced success this season as well as proving his strength against the clock.

“Our first goal for the Giro d’Italia is to go for a stage and there are plenty of early opportunities for this with several flat days,” said Kittel.

"I got the Tour de Romandie off to a strong start yesterday in the prologue and hope to have a good week of preparation here with some hard racing kilometres to get me ready for the start of the Giro next week."
 
Speaking about the line up for the Giro, Team Giant-Shimano coach, Addy Engels said: “The first goal for the Giro with Marcel in the team will obviously be for the sprints, and for the stages that are slightly too hilly for him we can ride for Luka too.
 
“We have a strong line-up of riders who will be able to support this in terms of chasing down the breaks and also for the lead-outs.
 
“Then there’s a part of the team that will be looking for results from the other stages and taking their chances when they can – guys like Tobias, Simon and Georg. Opportunities like these are great for learning and development, as being out front in the final stages of a Grand Tour stage is no easy feat.
 
“This worked well last year and Tobias very nearly pulled off a big result, finishing fourth on stage 9 after a long breakaway. We will be looking for similar stages and will take it day-by-day without an immediate focus on the overall GC.”
 
Line-up for the Giro d'Italia:
Bert de Backer (BEL)
Simon Geschke (GER)
Marcel Kittel (GER)
Tobias Ludvigsson (SWE)
Luka Mezgec (SLO)
Georg Preidler (AUT)
Tom Stamsnijder (NED)
Albert Timmer (NED)
Tom Veelers (NED)