In line with its mission of supporting the development of young Italian cyclists, Bardiani has annonced an all-Italian roster for the Giro d'Italia. Spearheading the team of youngsters are last year's winner of the mountains jersey Stefano Pirazzi who will target the GC in this year's edition of the race, and Enrico Battaglin who aims to win a stage for the second year in a row.

Bardiani-CSF may be made up of young Italians but last year the Italian professional contentinental team played a very visible and successful role at the Giro d'Italia. After three weeks of racing, the team returned home with a stage win, the mountains jersey and several strong breakaway performances in their pocket.

This year the team aims at repeating its success when it again lines up as a wildcard recipient in its home grand tour. And like last year Stefano Pirazzi and Enrico Battaglin are set to play major roles.

In 2013 Pirazzi rode a very aggressive race that was crowned with the win in the mountains competition but this year he has made no secret of the fact that he would like to see how far he can get in the general classification. Both a strong time trialist and a great climber, the Italian has the skills to focus on the overall standings.

Last year Battaglin won a stage in an uphilll sprint and the Italian will again focus on the hilly stages where he can make use of his puncheur skills and fast sprint to take another victory. Having broken his collarbone in Milan-Sanremo, he is returning to form just in time for the Giro d'Italia.

In the hilly stages, the team will also rely on Sonny Colbrelli who is very similar to Battaglin, albeit a bit faster in the sprint and not as strong on the climbs. The Italian has had a breakthrough season wiht no less than 12 top 5 finishes and he hopes to finally take his first professional win in Italy.

For the pure sprints, the team will focus on neo-pro Nicola Ruffoni who will take over the role of lead sprinter after Sacha Modolo who joined Lampre-Merida over the winter. He will be supported by Marco Canola when he takes on Marcel Kittel and Elia Viviani in the bunch sprints.

In the mountains, the team will look to the young pair of Francesco Manuel Bongiorno and Edoardo Zardini to support Pirazzi. Both showed great form in the Giro del Trentino where the latter won a stage and both were close to the overall top 10.

The team is completed by Enrico Barbin who showed great form by finishing 10th overall in the Tour of Turkey, and Nicola Boem who participated in several breakaways in the Turkish race.

Bardiani for the Giro d'Italia

Enrico Battaglin, Stefano Pirazzi, Francesco Manuel Bongiorno, Marco Canola, Edoardo Zardini, Sonny Colbrelli, Nicolas Boem, Nicola Ruffoni and Enrico Barbin