After a successful first part of the season BORA – hansgrohe arrives confident in Jerusalem for the Big Start of the Giro d’Italia.
On Friday, 4thof May, the 101stedition of the Giro d´Italia starts in Israel and takes the riders over 3.562.9 kilometers to the capital of Italy, Rome. In these 21 days, the peloton has to cover two individual time trials, seven sprint stages, six medium difficulty stages and six mountain stages.
The German team will be led by two co-captains, Davide Formolo and Patrick Konrad. For the sprints Sam Bennett will be the man to watch and with his key lead-out man Rudi Selig aside, the two want to impress also in this year’s Giro.
Quotes of the team:
Ralph Denk: “Our expectations are high coming into the Giro. After taking the first stage last year, we want to achieve kind of the same things this year, and we will give our best to make this happen. I think, we have a strong line up at this Giro d´Italia, all our riders had a good training period, are in a good shape and the most important thing, we have a special spirit within our team. Therefore, I look confident that we will have a good first Grand Tour 2018.”
Cesare Benedetti: “I am here to help my team and will support them one hundred per cent the upcoming three weeks, especially Sam and Davide. I hope we will arrive safely and healthy together in Rome, with some stage wins and a good result in the general classification.”
Sam Bennett: “I wasn’t sure about my shape after a long period without racing, therefore Eschborn-Frankfurt on Tuesday was really important for me to see where I stay. I felt really good and I am now I look confident into the upcoming Giro d´Italia.”
Davide Formolo: “I am really looking forward to this Giro101. We will start in Israel and finish in the capital of Italy, Rome. My shape was already good at Liège, actually my whole preparations went really well, that’s already a big step. Now I can be confident and for sure the one or other stage result will come, but I’ll also aim for the GC. We are here with a great team, therefore we will have a good time together and hopefully also secure some nice results.”
Felix Großschartner: “It is my second participation in the Giro d´Italia and with the start in Israel and finish in Rome, it will be something special. The upcoming weeks, I will support our GC Contender Davide as good as possible, especially in the mountain stages. But if I get the chance to go for a good stage result, I am eager to take every opportunity.”
Patrick Konrad: “My preperations went well and I already secured some good results which makes me confident ahead of the Giro. I will be one of two co-leaders for BORA – hansgrohe and with the opening TT and the first summit finish at stage 6, we will see early in the race what is possible in the GC. But the decisive part of the race will be the last week, I learnt that last year in my first appearance, and this year the final of the race is even harder.”
Christoph Pfingsten: “I am more than motivated and I am so grateful to be at this year´s Giro101. I hope that I can support the team in the best way, but I’ll also try to use my chances, if I get any opportunity. Anyway, I hope we will have a nice time with a lot of success together.”
Andreas Schillinger: “It is something special to start in Israel, given that there wasn’t any big cycling race here before. It’s difficult to evaluate the upcoming stages, like the wind or the roads. However, I think we can achieve some stage victories, we have different options and of course we’ll go for it.”
Rudi Selig: “Of course we try everything to achieve stage wins and my task will be to support Sam in the sprint stages as his last lead-out rider. I think, he is in a really good shape, like he showed in Eschborn-Frankfurt. Hopefully, we manage to take an early win, like last year with Lukas.”
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