Loyal domestique Chris Harper hs been given a chance to show his own overall aspirations at a Grand Tour, with Jayco-AlUla backing the South Australian to chase a place in the top ten at the Giro d’Italia.
"He's built for Grand Tours, but he hasn't had the opportunity really to be the leader in a Grand Tour yet, so it's going to be really interesting this year and exciting to see what he can do at the Giro," David McPartland told Cyclingnews from the sidelines of the Tour of the Alps at the end of last month.
Alongside Harper, Filippo Zana and Luke Plapp will once again line up for the team Australian team.
The Italian Grand Tour has been a key goal for the rider from Victoria, who once again scooped up the Australian time trial title in January, however wrist surgery at the end of the Australian block interrupted his run toward the event. He returned with force at the Tour of Hellas, winning a stage, so now it's a matter of seeing if the Tour de Romandie has been enough to hone his form.
"We will be at the start of the Grande Partenza in Albania with a team ready to do battle in every stage. The preparation for a Giro d’Italia began a long way back in winter and I am sure that our athletes are prepared to put on a great show every day," Brent Copeland, the team's general manager, said in a statement.
The Jayco-AlUla team also includes Michael Hepburn who will bring his experience of ten Giro d'Italia's to the role of team captain while Davide De Pretto, Paul Double and Felix Engelhardt will all be making their debut at the race.
Eddie Dunbar will focus on the Tour de France, while there is no place for veteran Italian and former pink jersey wearer Alessandro De Marchi, who recently revealed he will retire at the end of the season.
Last year was a matter of testing the waters for Harper's GC ability, with a sixth overall at Volta a Catalunya, but he rode both the Tour de France and Vuelta a España in support of others.
This year the 30-year-old once again started out the season in Australia, where he was often on the attack, before moving through to the Tour of Oman. He travelled to the UAE Tour, where he was meant to spearhead the team's general classification hopes, but illness in the run up meant he didn't start.
Harper only returned to racing again at the end of last month, taking on Liège-Bastogne-Liège as the last event before he lines up at the Giro d'Italia on May 9.
"It's a race that should suit him, and I think even though he also hasn't raced a lot, everything indicates that he'll be ready to be at a good level," said McPartland, praising his aptitude and commitment to training toward race readiness.
Last year Jayco-AlUla headed into the Giro d’Italia with Eddie Dunbar as their key overall contender, though they quickly had to shift focus when he was forced to abandon following a crash on stage 2. Luke Plapp found his way onto the podium on stage 6, then spent a day in the white jersey and, despite a bout of illness mid-race, fought back to to take two top five spots through the last half of the event while Filippo Zana ended up being the team's top overall finisher in 11th. The target for Harper is step it up a notch from there.
"The goal with him is the top ten and we believe he's capable of achieving that," said McPartland.
The last time Harper raced the Giro d’Italia was in 2020 was when he was racing with Jumbo-Visma and the team left the race ahead of stage 10 to protect the riders after team leader Steven Kruijswijk tested positive for COVID-19.
That was his first Grand Tour but since then he has added two editions of the Vuelta a España and two appearances at the Tour de France, finishing 16th overall in 2023 as he also supported then teammate Simon Yates to fourth.
"I think I have reached a good level of preparation, and my intention is to gradually grow throughout the three weeks of the Giro and then really give it my all in the last week when the Alps will be very decisive," said Harper.
"The route is, like always, very selective, and each stage can hide pitfalls. My goal is to do well in GC, and I am sure that with the team we have we can achieve a lot."
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