Movistar have come a step closer to finding the team that will support Nairo Quintana in his bid to win the Giro d'Italia as the team has announced an 11-rider preselection for the first grand tour. With riders like Igor Anton, Jose Herrada, Eros Capecchi, Sylwester Szmyd, and Gorka Izagirre on the roster, the Colombian can expect excellent assistance in the mountains while Adriano Malori, Andrey Amador and Jonathan Castroviejo will provide firepower in the opening team time trial.

Movistar Team general manager Eusebio Unzué has defined an 11-rider preselection for the 97th edition of the Giro d'Italia, which starts in Belfast on May 9. Nairo Quintana leads a strong shortlist also featuring Italians Adriano Malori and Eros Capecchi, Polish climber Sylwester Szmyd, Costa Rica's Andrey Amador and Spaniards Fran Ventoso, Pablo Lastras, Igor Antón, Jonathan Castroviejo, Gorka Izagirre and José Herrada.

The nine Blues eventually selected will tackle a demanding parcours, with five mountain-top finishes (Oropa, Plan di Montecampione, Val Martello, Rifugio Pamarotta and Monte Zoncolan, all of them into the second half of the race), several mid-mountain stages in the first ten days of racing and three time trials: the long, individual one Barolo (42km), the climb towards the Monte Grappa (27km) and the 22km TTT that will open a Corsa Rosa whose opening three days will be held in the island of Ireland.