Today the Lotto Belisol team announced its nine riders for the Giro d'Italia, going with a selection of possible stage winners rather than aiming for overall success.

Sprinter André Greipel is absent from the team, taking a rest period after the Tour of Turkey.

The team’s best stage rider, Jürgen Van den Broeck, will again be fully focused on the Tour de France and so Francis De Greef, 19th on GC in 2012, will carry the teams’ GC hopes.

Last year Lars Bak showed his class with a superbly timed and executed stage victory in Sestri Levante and the Danish rider is apt for hilly stages that beckon breakaway attempts.

The Giro d’Italia kicks off in Naples on Saturday May 4, with a flat 130 km circuit stage along the seafront. The race finishes in Brescia on Sunday May 26.

Lotto Belisol line-up for the Giro d’Italia:

Lars Bak, Dirk Bellemakers, Francis De Greef, Kenny Dehaes, Gert Dockx, Adam Hansen, Olivier Kaisen, Tim Wellens and Frederik Willems.