Dutch team releases long-list for May's Giro start in Holland
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Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin)
Tom Dumoulin sitting in the bunch(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Nikias Arndt (Giant-Alpecin) gets the kisses for his win(Image credit: Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us)
Tobias Ludvigsson (Team Giant-Alpecin)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Georg Preidler (Giant Alpecin)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Giant-Alpecin on Thursday released its long list for the upcoming Giro d'Italia, which begins May 6 with a 9.8km individual time trial in Apeldoorn, Netherlands. Thirteen riders are being considered for the nine-rider roster that will compete for the Dutch team in the first Grand Tour of the year.
The team said two riders who will definitely be on the start line are time trial specialist Tom Dumoulin and sprinter Nikias Arndt. Dumoulin, who led the Vuelta a Espana for six stages last year, will be aiming for a stage victory in one of the time trials during his Giro debut, while Arndt will go for a stage win during one of the flat stages in the first week of racing.
"It is the first Grand Tour of the season and our target is to go for a stage victory in the time trials with Dumoulin," said team coach Marc Reef.
"Secondly, our focus will be on stage success in the sprint stages where in the first week there should be several opportunities for a bunch sprint. Finally, when the stages become more challenging, we will use an offensive strategy and give ourselves and our riders the best chance for a good result."
Giant-Alpecin Giro d'Italia long list: Nikias Arndt, Bert De Backer, Tom Dumoulin, Caleb Fairly, Johannes Fröhlinger, Chad Haga, Cheng Ji, Carter Jones, Tobias Ludvigsson, Georg Preidler, Tom Stamsnijder, Albert Timmer, Zico Waeytens
