Slipstream gets Giro invite

The Slipstream/Chipotle presented by H3O professional cycling team has announced its invitation to contest the 91st edition of the Giro d'Italia. As indicated to Cyclingnews by team director Jonathan Vaughters at the 2008 Tour de France presentation in Paris last October, the Professional Continental team owned by Doug Ellis will be participating in the next Italian Grand Tour, scheduled from May 10-June 1.

"We couldn't be more excited about the invitation. It demonstrates that [Giro organiser - ed.] RCS - a pillar of the sport - supports our team and has confidence in our young organisation. We will return the favour by bringing our best game to the event," commented Ellis.

His sentiments were echoed by Vaughters, who said, "This invitation is an honour for us. Beyond showing that our efforts to create a solid programme are recognized on a Grand Tour scale, it is an outstanding opportunity for our team to showcase our talented roster and capable staff."

This year's edition of the Giro includes 21 days of racing covering 3,423.8 kilometres from Palermo to Milan. Additionally, with it's four time trials, "the race provides Slipstream an excellent opportunity to display its powerful time trialling ability", according to the team. The opening day of the 'Corsa Rosa' is a 28.5 kilometre team time trial in Palermo. With riders such as David Millar, Dave Zabriskie, and Christian Vande Velde on the tentative roster, Slipstream will aim for a strong performance right from the start of the race. The team also named Julian Dean to participate in the event, focusing on the early mass sprint stages, as well as Tom Danielson to contest the mountain stages as well as General Classification.

RCS Sport is expected to announce further wild card entries to the race in the next weeks.