Team Sky’s squad for the Gito d’Italia has been finalised and formally announced. The 95th Giro, which runs from May 5 to 27, starting in the Danish town of Herning and ending in Milan, will see Mark Cavendish making his fourth appearance at the Italian classic and heading up a formidable looking nine-man Sky line-up. The 26-year-old will be joined by Bernhard Eisel, Juan Antonio Flecha, Sergio Henao, Peter Kennaugh, Ian Stannard, Ben Swift, Geraint Thomas and Rigoberto Urán. Eisel and Flecha alone have already notched up 27 Grand Tours between them and look set to add considerable experience to the team.
Commenting on the squad’s announcement Mark Cavendish said, ‘The Giro is one of my favourite races of the season and I’m very happy to be riding it. We’ve got a good squad to go and win stages. Geraint, Pete and Swifty have just come off the track so they should have that explosive power which will be important in the first week, and the rest of the team have all done well in the Classics. We want to win the team time trial as well and hopefully that will get us the pink jersey. If we could achieve that it would be a massive honour for the team. It should be a really good three weeks because we’re all friends and have a good understanding on the road. The Tour de Romandie has allowed me to get some miles in the legs so come the start in Denmark I’ll be raring to go.’ With Ben Swift adding: ‘The Giro will always be a special race for me because it was the first Grand Tour I rode back in 2009 and I lived in Italy whilst on the British Academy…’
