Geraint Thomas will lead Ineos Grenadiers at this year’s Giro d’Italia (October 3-25) with the former Tour de France winner ably supported by Rohan Dennis, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Jonathan Castroviejo, and new world time trial champion Filippo Ganna.
Thomas targets the race and the maglia rosa for the first time since 2017 and will lead the GC charge after missing out on Tour de France selection at the end of August.
Despite reports that Richard Carapaz would also ride the Giro d'Italia to defend his 2019 victory, the Ecuadorian is not in the final squad. He is expected to ride the Vuelta a Espana alongside Chris Froome.
Thomas recently finished fourth in the world time trial championships but also rode strongly at Tirrreno-Adriatico, taking second overall behind Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott).
With 64.9 kilometers of individual time trialing during the three-week race Thomas lines up as one the main favourites.
“I’m excited to lead the team again in Italy and I feel ready. It’s been a strange year for everyone but it’s great to have this big objective. The legs are feeling good, Tirreno went well and then the World Time Trial was a confidence booster for me. Now stage one is nearly here and I’m more motivated than ever," Thomas said. “I’ve a long association with Italy - I’ve lived here, I’ve raced for an Italian team, and I had some rough luck the last time I came to the Giro. I’m determined to right that wrong this time around." “We’re taking a great team and I’ve got total faith in the guys around me. Racing a Grand Tour with Swifty again will be a pleasure - we’ve been good mates since I was 12 and he’ll be our guide on the road."
"Tao and I have raced really well together before, most notably when I won the Dauphine, and Filippo (Ganna) is obviously flying after the Worlds. Puccio has so much experience of the Giro, young Jonny Narvaez is going really well and obviously, everybody knows what Castro and Rohan can do. The team couldn’t have supported me any better in the lead up to this race and I know those seven guys will do the job and support me on the road. Now it’s time to fight for the maglia rosa.”
The rest of the team is made up of climbers and riders for the flat stages, with Ganna and Dennis both able to target the three time trials in the race. Castroviejo left the Tour de France after stage 18 to save his form for the Giro d’Italia and he returns to the race for the first time since 2014.
Dennis, who finished 16th in the Giro d’Italia in 2018 and won a stage also returns to the race. Depending on his climbing form he will look to juggle his aims in the time trials with supporting Thomas in the mountain stages that litter the race.
Coppi e Bartali winner, Jhonatan Narvaez, returns to the race for the second time in two years, while Ben Swift has a crack at a Grand Tour for the first time since the 2017 Tour de France.
Geoghegan Hart will start the race for the second time in a row and after abandoning in 2019 will be looking to turn out a similar performance to last year’s Vuelta a Espana, where he climbed to 20th overall.
The final spot on the team has gone to veteran Italian domestique Salvatore Puccio.
Ineos Grenadiers for the 2020 Giro d'Italia: Geraint Thomas, Rohan Dennis, Ben Swift, Jhonatan Narvaez, Filippo Ganna, Tao Geoghegan Hart, and Salvatore Puccio.
