"The toughest race in the World's most beautiful place” – organised by RCS Sport / La Gazzetta dello Sport – will start on Saturday 9th May with the spectacular and "unique" Team Time Trial on the Riviera dei Fiori cycling path, from San Lorenzo a Mare to Sanremo, to finish on Sunday 31 May in Milan, during the Expo 2015.
 
There will be 22 teams, each with nine riders, that will battle through the 3,489km of the race on a course full of challenges from the very start.

The favourites for the overall General Classification are announced today with the first provisional entry list and are: the Spaniard Alberto Contador, the Australian Richie Porte, the Colombian Rigoberto Urán, the Italian Fabio Aru and the Belgian Jurgen Van den Broeck.
 
Among stage hunters, finisseurs (a rider who has both the speed and power to attack the peloton in the final kilometre of a stage and stay away on their own) and sprinters there are many top names from the international peloton: the Belgians Tom Boonen (at his first Giro) and Philippe Gilbert; the Australians Simon Gerrans, Michael Matthews (winner in 2014 of Montecassino stage and leader of the Corsa Rosa for six days), Michael Rogers (winner of two stages last year, including the mighty Zoncolan) and Australian national champion Heinrich Haussler; the Spaniards Jon Izagirre, Beñat Intxausti, Juan José Lobato, Mikel Landa and Mikel Nieve; the Colombians Carlos Betancur and Darwin Atapuma; the Czechs Roman Kreuziger and Leopold König; Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel; the Russian national champion Aleksandr Porsev; the Germans André Greipel and Simon Geschke; the Dutchman Maarten Tjallingii; the Slovenians Grega Bolea and Luka Mezgec (winner of last year's sprint for the Trieste stage) and the Italians Domenico Pozzovivo, Giovanni Visconti, Luca Paolini, Diego Ulissi, Fabio Felline, Oscar Gatto, Elia Viviani, Sasha Modolo, Alessandro Petacchi, Giacomo Nizzolo, Matteo Pelucchi and Enrico Battaglin (winner of the Oropa stage in 2014).
 
There will also be four previous winners of Giro d'Italia at the start: Damiano Cunego (2004), Ivan Basso (2006 and 2010), Alberto Contador (2008) and Ryder Hesjedal (2012).

THE TEAMS AND CHIEF PROTAGONISTS
AG2R LA MONDIALE (FRA) – Pozzovivo, Betancur
ANDRONI GIOCATTOLI (ITA) – Pellizotti, Gatto
ASTANA PRO TEAM (KAZ) – Aru, Landa
BARDIANI CSF (ITA) – Battaglin, Colbrelli
BMC RACING TEAM (USA) – Gilbert, Caruso
CCC SPRANDI POLKOWICE (POL) – Bole, Paterski
ETIXX – QUICK STEP (BEL) – Uran, Boonen
FDJ (FRA) – Roux, Veikkanen
IAM CYCLING (SUI) – Chavanel, Haussler
LAMPRE – MERIDA (ITA) – Ulissi, Modolo
LOTTO SOUDAL (BEL) – Van den Broeck, Greipel
MOVISTAR TEAM (ESP) – Izagirre, Intxausti
NIPPO – VINI FANTINI (ITA) – Cunego, Colli
ORICA GREENEDGE (AUS) – Gerrans, Matthews
SOUTHEAST PRO CYCLING TEAM (ITA) – Petacchi, Belletti
TEAM CANNONDALE – GARMIN (USA) – Hesjedal, Formolo
TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN (GER) – Geschke, Mezgec
TEAM KATUSHA (RUS) – Paolini, Porsev
TEAM LOTTO NL – JUMBO (NED) – Tjallingii, Kruijswijk
TEAM SKY (GBR) – Porte, Viviani
TINKOFF – SAXO (RUS) – Contador, Basso
TREK FACTORY RACING (USA) – Felline, Nizzolo