Brice Feillu replaces Bennati in the Leopard Trek team for Giro d'Italia

Brice Feillu will replace Daniele Bennati in the Leopard Trek line-up for the Giro d'Italia after the Italian sprinter crashed out of the Tour de Romandie.

Bennati, who won the points jersey in 2008 Giro d'Italia, underwent surgery for a broken collarbone suffered in a crash in the first stage of the Tour de Romandie, in which he also fractured four ribs. He is expected to be out of action for four to six weeks.

With his absence, “we lose the opportunity to go for the points jersey," said directeur sportif Luca Guercilena. "But we are confident in both Wouter Weylandt and Davide Viganò. They have shown good condition recently, and we believe they can be competitive in the sprints."

The newly-formed Luxembourg team is not looking for overall placings at its first-ever Grand Tour. "We go to the Giro to make the most of breakaway opportunities," Guercilena said. "We want to show that we are fighters. This is one of the most important parts of our identity as a team. We want to fight and dig deep."

“This is the first big Tour for Leopard Trek in the history of the team, it is natural that we want to show our full capacity."

The team's full line-up for the Giro d'Italia is Dominic Klemme, Tom Stamsnijder, Bruno Pires, Thomas Rohregger, Fabian Wegmann, Oliver Zaugg, Brice Feillu, Davide Viganò and Wouter Weylandt.