It didn't come as a surprise that Philip Deignan (Team Sky) got the biggest cheer at the Giro team presentation on Thursday: He's born in Letterkenny, just a few kilometres from Northern Ireland where the race got underway yesterday evening.

Some expect the Ulsterman to go on the attack – and maybe fight for the blue mountain jersey – on his home roads, either on today's stage around Belfast or tomorrow when the race turns south towards Dublin.

But as CyclingQuotes learned from Team Sky sports director Dan Frost, Deignan will instead opt to save his strength for later: “We discussed it in the team, but going in a break on the Irish stages would cost Phil too much energy. There are other stages later in the race that suit him better, so on the first couple of stages it's all about saving as much energy as possible.”

Instead, Team Sky will support their sprinter Ben Swift in the opening stages that are expected to end in bunch sprints. Deignan himself will try to go for a stage win on one of the harder stages in the second half of the Giro.