Sky confirms Giro d’Italia squad

25 Apr Sky confirms Giro d’Italia squad

Team Sky has announced its nine-man line-up  that will contest the Giro d’Italia in May.

Sir Bradley Wiggins leads the team in his aim to add another Grand Tour title  to his Tour de France victory from last season. The squad is built entirely for  supporting Wiggins as he bids for the coveted pink leader’s jersey, the maglia  rosa.

Wiggins is joined by Dario Cataldo, Sergio Henao, Christian Knees, Danny  Pate, Salvatore Puccio, Kanstantsin Siutsou, Rigoberto Uran and Xabier  Zandio.

Colombian Henao is perhaps the only surprise inclusion in the line-up. He  goes into the Giro after a spring classics campaign that saw him place second in  Fleche Wallonne and sixth in the Amstel Gold Race. Wiggins is the sole Briton in  the British-based team’s line-up.

“It’s well-documented that the Giro has been a season goal for Bradley,” said  Sky team principal Dave Brailsford. “With that in mind we want to get the best  performance possible and try to win the race. If you work back from there you  need support in the mountains and a strong nucleus of the team who can work  hard.”

“We’ve got quality climbing support and some really big engines too. There’s  also the team time trial to think about and we’ve got a very strong squad,” said  Brailsford.

Wiggins added: “I believe the Giro team this year is just as strong as the  Tour de France team last year and the results prove that everyone is ready to  go.”

Wiggins goes into the race as one of the leading favourites to take the win.  He has been working on his explosive climbing over the winter in order to cope  with the Giro’s relentless ascending and the inevitable attacks from his rivals.  Along with the stage two team time trial, the race features a further two  individual time trials. On paper, it’s a route that firmly plays to Wiggins’  talents.

The 2013 Giro d’Italia starts on Saturday May 4 and concludes three weeks  later on Sunday May 26.

Team Sky squad for Giro d’Italia 2013 Dario Cataldo  (Italy), 28 years old Sergio Henao (Colombia), 25 Christian Knees  (Germany), 32 Danny Pate (USA), 34 Salvatore Puccio (Italy),  23 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Belarus), 30 Rigoberto Uran (Colombia), 26 Sir  Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain), 32 Xabier Zandio (Spain), 36

Report courtesy of Cycling Weekly

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