Video: Hunter discusses Garmin-Barracuda's options for early Giro d'Italia stages

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Veteran professional Robbie Hunter (Garmin-Barracuda) will be starting the fourth Giro d'Italia of his career and the 35-year-old South African spoke exclusively to Cyclingnews the evening before Saturday's opening stage. The reigning South African road champion believes his teammate Alex Rasmussen, racing on home soil, will be a contender to win the opening 8.7km time trial on Saturday in Herning, Denmark.

"I think our main guy is going to be [Alex] Rasmussen," Hunter told Cyclingnews. "I think he's in with a shot but it will be difficult. There's a couple of guys out there really going for it."

If Garmin-Barracuda doesn't claim the maglia rosa on Saturday, Hunter noted that the stage four team time trial plays to the team's strengths and will provide the American ProTeam a chance to put a rider in the pink jersey.

In addition to the two early stages against the clock, Hunter also discusses the team's options for Sunday's and Monday's road stages in Denmark where he believes himself, Rasmussen, Jack Bauer and Tyler Farrar can work together to open Garmin-Barracuda's stage win account at the Italian Grand Tour.