Giro d’Italia, the first Grand Tour of the season, kicks off on Saturday.
After a hugely demanding parcours in 2011, the Giro organisers have sought to create a more rounded route for the race's 95th running, albeit one that still provides a host of climbing challenges.........
With a combined 3476 kilometres on the menu, this year the race holds its ceremonial start in Denmark with three stages in Scandinavia before the transfer south into Italy.
The first week provides plenty of opportunity for sprinters including world champion Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) who struggled to find a flat run-in the year previous, the race serving up a likely seven possible bunch kicks.
Bookended by time trials, the event has a more balanced feel, albeit with a rest day after three stages to allow for a transfer from Denmark.
The race looks set to come to a thrilling conclusion with a mountain double-header, culminating in a climb over the mythical Passo dello Stelvio one day before the finish in Milan.
Team Sky arrive at the race with a strong nine-man squad, with Cavendish targeting sprint victories along with general classification aspirations Colombians for Rigoberto Urán and Sergio Henao.
The fight for the overall victory is wide open, with Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) lining up with the number one on his back following his inherited victory from Alberto Contador in 2011.
The Italian will face stiff competition from the likes of Roman Kreuziger (Astana), John Gadret (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha), while all eyes will be on established names like Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Frank Schleck (RadioShack-Nissan) to see if they can salvage disappointing seasons to date.
Ian Stannard will be starting his second Giro and fourth Grand Tour on Saturday, with the Team Sky rider ready to work hard to propel Cavendish to stage victories.
He said: “Every day in a Grand Tour is a massive effort, especially in the mountains for me. Even in the grupetto it’s not easy and then on the flat Cav’s up for the win and we’ve got to pull our finger out a bit there and deliver him.
“It’ll be discussed when we get there but those days suit Cav. It’s obviously going to be hard there too and we’ve got to look after the general classification guys. There’s going to be lots of cross-winds but with the team we’ve got there those flat days probably suit us more. It should be up our street.
“It should be some good racing in Denmark. The GC contenders have got a lot to lose there and we obviously want to try and win the stages. It’s going to be nervous racing but a lot of us have raced in the cross-winds and know what we’re doing. We’ve got a good team for that, so as a group we can go in there confident and strong.”
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