Between 5-28 May, we're going on an adventure, which will see our riders cover 21 stages and 3572 kilometers.
The Giro d'Italia is celebrating its 100th edition this year, one that will set out from Sardinia, go to Sicily, the Apennines, the Alps and the Dolomites, before coming to a conclusion in Milan. Sixteen of the country's twenty regions will be visited by the peloton, who'll have plenty of opportunities to fight for victory and glory, from the expected bunch sprints of Olbia and Tortona and the individual time trials of Foligno and Milan to the tough and legendary mountain top finishes of Etna, Blockhaus, Santuario de Oropa or Piancavallo.
In 2016, not only that he became the first Luxembourger in nearly six decades to don the coveted maglia rosa, but Bob Jungels – who was making his Giro d'Italia debut at that time – conquered the white jersey on his way to finishing sixth overall. The 24-year-old returns to the start, having built his season around the Italian Grand Tour, and will lead Quick-Step Floors' general classification ambitions here, encouraged by his convincing display in the Tour de Romandie, where he finished eighth overall.
For Fernando Gaviria (22 years), who has scored four victories in 2017, the Giro d'Italia will be a learning experience, but this doesn't mean the talented South-American won't try to get in the mix every time a stage will conclude in a bunch sprint. Gaviria will be one of the three Quick-Step Floors riders to make their Grand Tour debut in May, together with Laurens De Plus (21 years) and Davide Martinelli (23 years).
Eros Capecchi, Dries Devenyns, Iljo Keisse, Maximiliano Richeze and Pieter Serry, all seasoned pros, who between them have amassed 21 participations and four stage victories at the Giro d'Italia, will add experience to the team which is set to be led from behind the wheel by Davide Bramati, Geert Van Bondt and Rik van Slycke.
"If you look on our outfit for the Giro d'Italia, you can see it's a young one, with three Grand Tour rookies, but at the same time a very motivated one to have a say in the race. After last year's performance, we'll try to help Bob make another step forward. The Giro is always a challenging race, but he is prepared; we will see how things pan out and we'll make a first assessment after the Foligno time trial, although we are aware that the difficult third week can easily change the general classification", said sport director Davide Bramati.
Besides Bob Jungels, Quick-Step Floors has its eyes also on the bunch finishes, where Colombian prodigy Fernando Gaviria – who has two wins on Italian soil, at Tirreno-Adriatico – will count on the services of Maximiliano Richeze, one of the best lead-out men in the business.
"Fernando will race a Grand Tour for the first time, and the most important thing for him will be to gain experience, but we aren't hiding the fact we have faith in him, as he's capable of getting a good result in the flat stages. Overall, our squad is a balanced one, capable of supporting both Bob in the mountains and Fernando in the sprints, so we look with confidence to the first Grand Tour of the year, which we hope to be a good one to our team", concluded Davide Bramati.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele
