Rabobank head to the Giro d'Italia with eye on sprints

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Dutch team Rabobank will be heading to the Giro d'Italia with two sprinters in its line-up, clearly aiming at stage victories. Mark Renshaw and Theo Bos, who claimed three wins between them at the Tour of Turkey last week, will head the squad's roster that will be at the start of the Italian Grand Tour race in Denmark this weekend.

"The main goal of this Giro is a stage win," said sporting director Jan Boven, who hopes for his fast men to score in the first week before the race heads into the mountains. "With this team, we have to go for stage victories. As we saw in Turkey, Renshaw is able to lead out the sprint perfectly for Bos, but he can also win himself."

While Dutch rider Bos took the first as well as the last stage in the Turkish stage race, Renshaw secured the victory on the fourth day. These three victories for the Rabobank sprint train have boosted the team's collective morale and also their that of their management. "It's great to have concluded the Tour of Turkey with another win. It's always the last impression that stays with you the longest," Boven added.

In Italy, Bos and Renshaw will be supported by many riders that also lined up in Turkey: Graeme Brown, Tom Leezer and Dennis van Winden. Grischa Niermann, Stef Clement, Juan Manuel Garate and Tom-Jelte Slagter round out the roster.

The two latter riders, Garate and Slagter, will have the freedom to look for opportunities beyond the sprint stages. "Slagter can go on attacks; we will see how far he'll get. He'll be supported by Garate. They have to select specific stages and then give it a go when they can," Boven concluded.

Full Rabobank roster for the Giro d'Italia: Theo Bos, Graeme Brown, Stef Clement, Juan Manuel Garate, Tom Leezer, Grischa Niermann, Mark Renshaw, Tom-Jelte Slagter and Dennis van Winden.