Giro d'Italia Archives - Page 5 of 5

Speaking at the Giro d’Italia press conference in London, HTC-Highroad sprinter Mark Cavendish has confirmed that he intends to start all three Grand Tours (Giro, Tour de France and Vuelta a Espa�a) this season.

Having missed the 2010 Giro in favour of taking to the saddle at the Tour of Californian,

Cavendish returns to the event this year with hopes of repeating his 2009 opening stage success when he proudly became the first Briton to don the leader�s jersey. He made a successfully debut at the Vuelta last year and to date has made starts in seven Grand Tours with finishes in four of them. If Cavendish makes good on his intention to line up at Giro, Tour and Vuelta he stands a good chance of being the first rider to win stages at the trinity in a single year since Italian Alessandro Petacchi back in 2003.

Giro d’Italia: May 7 – 29

Tour de France: July 2 – 24
Vuelta a Espa�a: August 20 – September 11

Team Saxo Bank-SunGard�s Alberto Contador has announced that he will return to compete in the Giro d’Italia stage race in May. The Spaniard, often cited as the most talented stage and all-round racer of his generation, has described the race in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, as his, �first big goal of the season.�

There are, of course, several obstacles to overcome in the meantime. Although Contador was acquitted by The Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) on February 15 after he tested positive for the banned drug Clenbuterol following last year�s Tour de France, either the International Cycling Union (UCI) or the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) are still thought likely to appeal the RFEC decision. If they are successful in overturning the verdict Contador will face a ban of up to 2 years and, naturally, the stripping of his 2010 Tour de France title.

The Giro d’Italia begins May 7 in Turin with team time trials, finishing 21 days later in Milan with the individual time trials and includes seven mountain stages.