Androni-Sidermec have announced their roster for the Giro d'Italia. The team will be led by Franco Pellizotti while main sprinter Francesco Chicchi is not in a physical condition that allows him to take on a three-week challenge.

Pellizotti got close to both the overall top 10 and a stage win in last year's edition of the race and will be leading the team's GC ambitions. In the mountains, he can count on support from Simone Stortoni and talents Gianfranco Zilioli and Serguei Tvetcov who will make their grand tour debuts.

In the sprint stages, the team will focus on Davide Appollonio while Oscar Gatto will go for stage wins in the hillier stages. The team is completed by Tiziano Dall'Antonio, Marco Bandiera and Marco Frapporti who are known for their aggressive riding.

"We also wanted to select Francesco Chicchi who won a stunning victory in Crevalcore at the Coppi e Bartali but our sprinter admitted honestly that he is not in the best physical condition to face such a difficult race. We will have Davide Appollonio. We feared he could not recover in time after breaking his scaphoid and but with the good results obtained in the last two stages of the Tour of Turkey he has proven to be competitive,"

manager Gianni Savio said.