The Etixx-Quick-Step professional cycling team has announced its roster for the first grand tour of the 2015 season, the Giro d'Italia.

 

This year's Giro d'Italia will be 3,486 kilometer long, begins on Saturday, May 9th, and concludes on Sunday, May 31st.

 

The Giro features one team time trial, one long individual time trial, seven sprint stages, five medium mountain stages, three medium mountain stages with uphill conclusions, and four high mountain stages with summit finishes.

 

The race opens with a 17.6 kilometer flat team time trial in San Lorenzo Al Mare, Sanremo and the riders will also face a second stage against the clock: the stage 14 individual time trial from Treviso to Valdobbiadene, which will be 59.4 kilometers long.

 

The three-week Giro also offers the riders two rest days to recover somewhat from the continuous stress. The shortest stages are stage 3 from Rapallo to Sestri Levante and stage 17 from Tirano to Lugano at 136 kilometers each. The longest stage is the 236 kilometer stage 7 from Grosseto to Fiuggi. A total of 43,000 vertical meters will be climbed during the three weeks of racing in Italy.

 

The Etixx-QuickStep will start this year's Giro with Rigoberto Uran as its designated team leader. Uran finished 2nd in the general classifications of the 2013 and 2014 editions of the Giro. He won stage 12 individual time trial of last year's Giro from Barbaresco to Barolo, which put him in the pink leader's jersey (Maglia Rosa) for several stages. 

 

Tom Boonen will also participate for the first time in his extensive career, returning from injury after a crash in this year's Paris-Nice. The team's line-up for this year's Giro is strong and balanced. While Uran provides the team with an opportunity to aim for the general classification victory, Tom Boonen can aim for stage victories while supporting Uran when needed. The team is completed by seven additional riders, which add climbing support for Uran and offers the team important stability in flat stages and strength in the opening team time trial.

 

Mark Cavendish and Tony Martin will not participate in this year's Giro and will dedicate their resources to preparing for this year's Tour de France.

 

Rigoberto Uran Uran, Tom Boonen, Maxime Bouet, Pieter Serry, Gianni Meersman, Fabio Sabatini, David De La Cruz, Iljo Keisse, and Petr Vakoc.

 

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