Team Garmin-Slipstream, defending Team Time Trial champion of the 2008 Giro d’Italia, today announced its much-anticipated line-up for the 2009 edition of the race.

Christian Vande Velde, the first American rider to wear the Maglia Rosa since 1988, will be joined by Bradley Wiggins, Cameron Meyer, Danny Pate, David Millar, David Zabriskie, Julian Dean, Tom Danielson and Tyler Farrar.

“We are bringing an incredible group of riders to the Giro d’Italia, and we have some big goals we want to achieve,” said Matt White, Director. “The team has been training hard for this race and we’d of course love to get the Maglia Rosa again, but we will be happy with a few strong performances.”

When asked about the difficulty of choosing the list, White added: “Narrowing down a Grand Tour list is always difficult, especially when guys like Ryder Hesjedal have been having a tremendous season. But we need to keep our goal of helping Christian [Vande Velde] at the Tour de France in mind, and preserving someone like Ryder now could be a huge benefit to us later.”

The team will look to defend last year’s Team Time Trial victory on Saturday. Will they succeed? Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com to find out!