- It is the first Grand Tour of the season,
there is a fittingly illustrious list of contenders
to take on what is the 100th edition
of the Giro d'Italia this year.
It all starts on Friday the 5th of May
in Sardinia and finishes just over three weeks
later up in Milan.
And along the way, the race takes on
its traditional mix of very high mountains,
very steep climbs and so called flat stages
which often throw in a nasty surprise for the sprinters.
Coming up though, GCN's top eight riders to watch
in the general classification.
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And we can only start with one man.
That man being, Nairo Quintana.
The Colombian has managed to persuade his team Movistar
to allow him to go for the Giro-Tour Double in 2017.
Now, nobody has managed to win both races
in the same years since Marco Pantani
and that was now nineteen years ago.
And many people will say it is impossible
to do the double in modern age.
Quintana has already won two stage races
in 2017, including the Tirreno Adriatico.
We haven't seen him race in April
but then again, he didn't race in April
the year that he won the Giro D'Italia,
which was back in 2014.
Nairo is the man to beat.
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On the other hand, Vincenzo Nibali
is in fact the better three week rider at least on paper.
He has won all three of the Grand Tours,
including the Giro D'Italia on two occasions
and he is in fact the defending champion
at this race.
Now, he didn't have the best of starts this season,
in terms of form but that is quite normal for Vincenzo.
However he did recently take the overall honour
at the Tour of Croatia.
Admittedly, not the biggest race in the world
but certainly a step in the right direction
for the Italian.
And with Fabio Aru absent, all Italian hopes
are going to rest on the sharp shoulders
to bring home the bacon, or indeed the prosciutto
in the 100th edition of the race.
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Steven Kruijswijk heads up a Dutch Armada,
at this year's race.
Last year he came very close to overall victory
before a horrific crash on stage 19.
We saw the pink jersey slip out of his fingers
and indeed the podium, too, he
ended up finishing in fourth place overall.
It remains to be seen whether he can
reach those heights or not again this year
but he does have a history of performing
at his best in the Giro D'Italia
and it is his main goal again for 2017.
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Tom Dumoulin is making his second appearance
at the race and he is making it clear
that his ambition is to be on the podium in Milan.
He hasn't raced as much as most other riders so far in 2017
but he has had a third place in the overall
classification in Abu Dhabi
and also sixth place at Tirreno Adriatico.
There is no doubt that he will be very good
at the individual time trials.
However, his ability in the Italian mountains
is a bit of an unknown.
Reason being, that last year he was
forced to withdraw from the Giro
before the race hit the high mountains due to a saddle sore.
However his two very impressive stage wins
at the Tour de France last year,
more than backed up what he had proven
at the Vuelta in 2015 where he came very close
to overall victory.
So we think that the podium place
is more than within his reach.
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Welshman Geraint Thomas finally
gets his first chance to lead team Sky at a Grand Tour.
It was his performance at the 2015 Tour de France
in support of Chris Froome which
prompted him to put 100% of his energy
into stage racing and temporarily
forgo his beloved cobbled classics.
And it looks like it is paying off.
The Tour of the Alps might not
be the biggest race in the world
but he won it overall and he took a stage win
in front of some very decent climbers.
He's got the strength, he just needs the consistency
over the course of three weeks.
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Co-leader of team Sky, though, is Mikel Landa.
He was third at this race back in 2015
although last year Giro d'Italia
was a big disappointment for the Basque rider.
He never quite managed to find his previous level
and was forced to abandon the stage 10 through illness.
He hasn't taken a win so far in 2017
but he did ride particularly well with Geraint Thomas
at the Tour of the Alps.
And nothing really would be a surprise
of Mikel Landa this year.
He could win it overall, he could be relatively anonymous,
but if he's in form he is certain to animate.
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It was pretty big surprise to learn
that Thibaut Pinot would
be targeting the Giro D'Italia this year.
The french man has had a lot
of success at the Tour de France over the last few years
but at 26 years of age he has decided
to target the Giro and do the race for the very first time.
Maybe he didn't relish the pressure
that he would be under at the Tour.
Maybe he thinks his chances are a lot better at the Giro.
Either way, it is the Giro's gain and the Tour's loss.
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And finally we have young Adam Yates of Orica Scott,
who unfortunately will no longer be joined
by his twin brother Simon, after his team
moved him over to the Tour de France roster for 2017.
You remembered Adam had a stupendous ride
at last years Tour de France.
He finished just off the podium in fourth place
and he was twenty one seconds in fact behind Nairo Quintana.
An amazing effort from such a young rider
at twenty three years old at the time.
His best result was so far in 2017 has
been a fourth place overall at the Volta a Catalunya.
However he has been laying in second place
at the Tirreno Adriatico, again,
behind Nairo Quintana before he
was forced to withdraw through sickness which
has been spread quickly through the team.
Right then, those are our riders
to watch in 2017 at the Giro but who are your favourites
for overall victory?
Have we missed anyone out?
Have we got it wrong?
Let's face it, we probably have.
Let us know your favourites in the comment section
just down below.
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on the globe and now we've got a couple
of videos in which you may want to watch.
Down here, is GCN's big Giro d'Italia preview
including details of some of the key stages
and down here is the latest edition of the GCN show.