Primoz Roglic | Team Jumbo-Visma
The top favourite?
"He has much more Grand Tour experience than I do": young competitor Remco Evenepoel likes to make 33-year-old Primoz Roglic the top favourite for the upcoming Tour of Italy. After all, the burden of being the favourite doesn't necessarily make you faster on the climbs. The Slovenian has already won the Tour of Spain three times. But he has also suffered many setbacks - such as in 2020, when he lost the Tour victory on the penultimate day to compatriot Tadej Pogacar and then retired twice in France after crashing. In the meantime Jonas Vingegaard overtaken in the team hierarchy by Jumbo-Visma. Roglic came to the Giro once before as the top favourite: in 2019 he rode in pink, won two time trials, but showed weaknesses in the mountains. He can let off steam at the Giro, whose route should suit the Olympic time trial champion.
Geraint Thomas | Team Ineos Grenadiers
Tough fighter
Geraint Thomas and the Giro d'Italia - it's not a very happy story. In 2017, he and several other pros crashed into a police motorbike on the course, three years later he fell over a rolling water bottle in the neutralised phase and failed to reach the decisive mountain stages. The Welshman was lured to the Giro as one of the favourites by the many time trial kilometres. However, the professional from Team Ineos Grenadiers will already be 37 years old during the upcoming Giro d'Italia. However, last year at the Tour he tirelessly hung on to the rear wheels of the superior Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar and showed that he was the best of the rest. And the two who were better are not planning to start in Italy.
Joao Almeida | UAE Team Emirates
Last chance?
Joao Almeida could be at a crossroads in his career: Now, at the age of 24, he should show in Italy that he can compete at the very, very front in three-week stage races. While team leader Tadej Pogacar concentrates on the Tour de France, Almeida is expected to lead the men of UAE Team Emirates in the battle for the pink jersey. At the age of 21, his star rose at the 2020 Giro when he finished fourth in his first Grand Tour start. The standards in the racing team of super all-rounder Pogacar are high. Many great tour talents have largely had to say goodbye to their own ambitions and settle into a helper role for the superstar - as shown by the examples of many UAE colleagues such as Rafal Majka, Adam Yates, Felix Großschartner, Marc Soler, Davide Formolo and Brandon McNulty. Especially as the 20-year-old Spaniard Juan Ayuso will be pushing for the role of co-leader after finishing third in the last Vuelta. And new signing Jay Vine could become another internal rival for Giro favourite Almeida at the Giro.
Aleksandr Vlasov | Team Bora-Hansgrohe
Chance of a breakthrough?
Aleksandr Vlasov appears quiet and unassuming. And this is how the now 27-year-old Russian competes in the races - inconspicuous, persistent, rarely at the front. A typical cyclist, whose services were secured by Bora team boss Ralph Denk - Aleksandr Vlasov came with the recommendation of fourth place overall at the Giro two years ago. He made his debut at the Tour de France in fifth place, despite suffering from crash injuries and the issues surrounding the political situation in his home country and the war in Ukraine. He already proved his climbing ability as the winner of the one-day race up Mont Ventoux. Sports director Rolf Aldag believes that his leader, as one of the Giro favourites, has what it takes to win in Italy. He was leading the Tour de Suisse last year when he had to leave the race after testing positive for coronavirus. At his side Lennard Kämna as the second candidate for the overall classification.
Remco Evenepoel | Team Soudal - Quick Step
Vuelta, Giro, Tour?
Closing the front door, doing the washing up and his wife as a stern critic - Remco Evenepoel believes that everything is in place to prevent him from floating away on a cloud as a high-flyer in cycling. In Belgium, cycling fans are already going crazy; after winning the Vuelta and World Championships, he was given a reception on the balcony of the town hall in the capital Brussels. The former youth international in the Belgian football team has earned his success despite his great talent: This year he is trying his hand as one of the favourites in the Giro, next year he could be right at the front in the Tour de France.
