Androni Giocattoli team manager Gianni Savio has told Cyclingnews that he has based his Giro selection on a football line-up, opting for a 6-1-2 formation.

“We’ve got six riders who will try to get in the breaks and animate the race, Franco Pellizotti is our play maker and road captain and then hopefully sprinters Oscar Gatto and Davide Appollonio will finish things off and put the ball in the back of the net,” Savio told Cyclingnews.

“Things might change on the hilly stages but we’ve can also vary our model depending on if Pellizotti is well placed overall.”

The six men charged with breakaway duties are Marco Bandiera, Tiziano Dall’Antionia, Marco Frapporti, Simone Stortoni, Serghei Tvetcov and Gianfranco Zilioli.