The battles over the cobbles and climbs in the classics have come and gone, the bunch has duked it out in the early-season stage races and now one of the toughest tests in cycling awaits the peloton – the Giro d’Italia.
With a race that is steeped in history, and as high as the many mountains it traverses, the 2024 edition of La Corsa Rosa is no different and provides some challenging terrain throughout the three weeks, in which everyone in the peloton will find something that suits their abilities. Spread over the 21 stages there are two time trials, some pure sprint opportunities, reduced bunch finishes, hilly and mountainous terrain that will tempt the breakaway artists, and the Giro’s typically tough high mountains where the GC riders and climbing specialists will battle it out.
Having shown some great recent form, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL are ready to get stuck into an exciting 21 days of racing where they aim to show their distinctive two-striped jersey on multiple fronts throughout the race.
Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Matt Winston expressed: “As usual, it will be another challenging three-week route around Italy with a mix of terrain awaiting us. We head to the Giro with a squad who have shown in recent races that they are in good form and the morale is high within the group. We have ambitions of top stage results in the sprints with Fabio as our finisher, where the sprint group has shown great progress in the recent Tour of Türkiye. We also aim to ride the best GC possible with Romain as our finisher there, while also looking for our opportunities to be in the fight for stage wins and top results on the hilly and mountainous terrain too. To achieve these goals, we will need to work well as a group throughout the race, riding as a unit and giving everything for each other over the three weeks; so that we can show ourselves at the front of proceedings.”
Speaking on his return to the Giro, Bardet continued: “I first discovered the Giro with the team back in 2021. I’ve done it twice so far and both times I really enjoyed it so I’m glad and really motivated to give it another go this year. We hope to be present and contesting for results in as many stages as possible. For the sprints we have Fabio, and we have some nice cards to play in the hills with the likes of Kevin and of course I hope to be up there fighting in the mountains too. Personally, I hope to be consistent over the three weeks, perform at my best level and to fight for the win in those mountain stages and see where that leaves us in the GC. I think if we’re able to get a stage win in the sprints and mountains, and a good GC result, then it would be an excellent Giro for us.”
Line-up
Tobias Lund Andresen
Romain Bardet
Chris Hamilton
Fabio Jakobsen
Gijs Leemreize
Julius van den Berg
Kevin Vermaerke
Bram Welten
