Giro d'Italia 2026 team-by-team guide – Leaders, objectives and riders to watch for every squad on the start list

Twenty three teams of eight riders will make up the multicoloured peloton when the Giro d'Italia begins in Bulgaria on Friday, May 8, with Pinarello-Q36.5, Tudor, Bardiani CSF 7 Saber, Polti VisitMalta and Unibet Rose Rockets lining up alongside the 18 WorldTour teams.

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) is the standout favourite for overall victory but faces a serious challenge from young Italian talent Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), with UAE Team Emirates-XRG looking for a GC leader in the absence of Tadej Pogačar and the illness of João Almeida.

Vingegaard and Pellizzari are very different riders and characters, with the young Italian surely set to capture the hearts of the tifosi, while Vingegaard could ride a somewhat conservative race to ensure he has some energy left for the Tour de France.

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The lack of big-name GC contenders and their desire for control is an opportunity for everyone else in the Giro, with the sprinters expected to hog the headlines in the first week, with breakaway opportunities when the stages head into the hills and high mountains.

Ben O'Connor (Jayco AlUla), Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM), Michael Storer (Tudor) and Thymen Arensman (Netcompany-Ineos) have strategically chosen to target the Giro rather than the Tour and it will be fascinating to see if that works out.

Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep), Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets), Ethan Vernon (NSN), Tobias Lund Andresen (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech) are expected to fight for the sprint wins, with the first maglia rosa up for grabs on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast at the end of stage 1 on Friday

The rest of the peloton and team rosters are packed with stage hunters and young riders looking to emerge, so attacks and breakaways should be abundant during the three weeks of the Corsa Rosa.

This is the Cyclingnews guide to all of the 23 teams taking part in the 2026 Giro d'Italia, including team leaders, objective, riders to watch and team line-ups when they are unveiled.

Who will challenge Jonas Vingegaard at this year's Giro d'Italia?

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Alpecin-Premier Tech

• Team leader: Kaden Groves
• Objectives: Sprint and stage victories, points classification
• Rider to watch: Jensen Plowright
• Full team: Francesco Busatto, Kaden Groves, Tobias Bayer, Jonas Geens, Edward Planckaert, Jensen Plowright, Johan Price-Pejtersen, Luca Vergallito

Alpecin-Premier Tech secured new sponsorship from the Canadian company for 2026 but for now, they remain a primarily Classics and sprinters team.

With Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen taking a break after a long Classics campaign and targeting the Tour de France in July, Kaden Groves will have an opportunity to target the sprint stages with clear leadership status.

The 27-year-old Australian stepped up to win stage 20 of the 2025 Tour de France after Van der Poel and Philipsen left the race and has proven he is fast and fearless in the hectic sprint finishes. Groves beat Jonathan Milan and Mads Pedersen to win at the Giro in Salerno in 2023 and won the big sprint finish in Naples last year. He also won six stages at the 2024 Vuelta a Espana and the points jersey, so could be a contender for the first maglia rosa in Burgas on Friday and the Giro's cyclamen-coloured points jersey.

Groves last raced at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne on March 1 and has struggled with a knee injury but Alpecin-Premier Tech recently confirmed that he has recovered and trained at altitude and "expected to be ready" for the Giro, with teammates selected to help him and target other stages.

Look out for young Australian Jensen Plowright as another fast finisher who could also take some opportunities in breakaways.

Italians Francesco Busatto and Luca Vergallito are also part of the final eight-rider roster and have stage hunter talents, with Vergallito a climber.

Bahrain Victorious

• Team leader(s): Damiano Caruso, Santiago Buitrago
• Objectives: Mountain and time trial stages
• Rider to watch: Alec Segaert
• Full team: Damiano Caruso, Afonso Eulálio, Santiago Buitrago, Alec Segaert, Edoardo Zambanini, Matevz Govekar, Fran Miholjevic, Mathijs Paasschens

Bahrain Victorious targeted the general classification of the 2025 Giro with Antonio Tiberi but the Italian crashed in the rain on stage 14 to Nova Gorica and struggled to make it to Rome. This year they have reverted to a more traditional stage hunters roster headed by veteran Italian Damiano Caruso and trusted Colombian climber Santiago Buitrago.

Caruso is 38 and will retire this year, making the Giro his Grand Tour swansong. He was second overall in 2021 and won a stage. Watch for him going in mountain breakaways on chosen days, in the hope the GC contenders will let him enjoy one final day of glory.

It will be interesting to see what Alec Segaert, Afonso Eulálio and Edoardo Zambanini can do in other breakaway opportunities. Australia's Robert Stannard was a late selection after riding the Tour de Romandie.

Segaert could challenge Filippo Ganna in the Tuscan time trial and try his now trademark late attack to snatch a stage win from the sprinters. Zambanini showed his talents and race skills in both Milan-San Remo and De Brabantse Pijl.

Bardiani CSF 7 Saber

• Team leader(s): Manuele Tarozzi, Martin Marcellusi
• Objectives: Stages, sprints
• Rider to watch: Filippo Turconi
• Full team: Manuele Tarozzi, Filippo Turconi, Vicente Rojas, Nikita Tsvetkov, Martin Marcellusi, Filippo Magli, Luca Paletti, Enrico Zanoncello

The Italian ProTeam again secured a Giro wild card and so Bardiani CSF 7 Saber will line-up in the Corsa Rosa for a 44th time in the team's long history.

"We'll be in the thick of the action and go on the attack," long-standing team manager Bruno Reverberi promised when RCS Sport confirmed the team's selection.

The Uzbekistan 7 Saber clothing brand joined as a title sponsor this year but the team retains its Italian roots and strategy of developing young riders, with Pellizzari the latest talent to step-up to WorldTour level after turning professional with Bardiani.

Watch for Bardiani riders to go on the attack and infiltrate breakaways to try to win stages. Manuele Tarozzi was in seven attacks in the 2025 Giro and will surely be active again this year. Martin Marcellusi is Bardiani's sprint option, with Luca Paletti and Filippo Turconi talented young riders to watch.

Decathlon CMA CGM

• Team leader(s): Felix Gall, Tobias Lund Andresen
• Objectives: GC top five, sprints
• Rider to watch: Johannes Staune-Mittet
• Full team: Oliver Naesen, Tord Gudmestad, Tobias Lund Andresen, Gregor Mühlberger, Felix Gall, Rasmus Sojberg Pedersen, Callum Scotson, Johannes Staune-Mittet

Paul Seixas is the new leader of Decathlon CMA CGM and will target the Tour de France, giving Felix Gall and Tobias Lund Andresen a chance to shine in Italy.

Lund Andresen was signed as an alternative sprint option to Olav Kooij but with the Dutchman suffering with a virus for all of 2026, the 23-year-old Dane has stepped up massively to win three times at the Tour Down Under, the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and a stage at Tirreno-Adriatico.

Decathlon have built an impressive lead out group for 2026 and will help Lund Andresen target the many sprint chances in the first half of the 2026 Corsa Rosa.

Gall will play more of a long game and follow a GC strategy. The 28-year-old Austrian has not won since his 2023 Tour de France stage victory but finished fifth in the 2025 Tour and eighth in the Vuelta a España. He has enjoyed a quiet but consistent 2026 spring, only riding the UAE Tour and the Volta a Catalunya but knows that the Giro is his chance to prove his talents as a stage racer and perhaps secure a new contract with Decathlon or elsewhere.

Gregor Mühlberger, Callum Scotson and Oliver Naesen form the domestique core of Decathlon squad for the Giro, with Johannes Staune-Mittet a name to watch. The 23-year-old Norwegian won the 2023 Giro Next Gen.

EF Education-EasyPost

• Team leader: Michael Valgren
• Objectives: Stages
• Rider to watch: Darren Rafferty, Markel Beloki
• Full team: Jefferson Alexander Cepeda, Samuele Battistella, Markel Beloki, Madis Mihkels, Darren Rafferty, James Shaw, Michael Valgren, Jardi van der Lee

EF Education-EasyPost were close to overall victory in the 2025 Giro only for Richard Carapaz and Isaac del Toro to watch each other as Simon Yates blasted up the Colle delle Finestre to snatch the maglia rosa on the final mountain stage.

Carapaz revealed on April 1 that he underwent surgery to resolve a serious saddle sore problem and promised he was "fully focused on recovery and getting back to my best for the Giro d'Italia", but ultimately he is not yet ready and will not start the Giro, leaving the team without a GC leader.

Carapaz, Ben Healy and Neilson Powless will focus more on the Tour de France, making the Giro an opportunity for EF Education's younger stage hunters. Michael Valgren showed he is back to his best and a potential Giro stage winner with his victory at Tirreno-Adriatico, while Samuele Battistella and Vincenzo Albanese looking to shine on home roads.

22-year-old Irish rider Darren Rafferty impressed at the Tour of the Alps, with Markel Beloki riding the Giro after impressing at the Itzulia Basque Country.

Groupama-FDJ United

• Team leader: Lorenzo Germani, Rémi Cavagna
• Objectives: Stages
• Rider to watch: Paul Penhoët
• Full team: Remi Cavagna, Cyril Barthe, Axel Huens, Johan Jacobs, Josh Kench, Paul Penhoët, Rémy Rochas, Brieuc Rolland

Groupama-FDJ United have struggled so far in 2026, still unable to recreate the emotions and success of the Thibaut Pinot era. The passionate French stage racer loved the Giro and his last shot at a GC came in the 2023 Corsa Rosa when he finished a valiant fifth.

Groupama have failed to find the next Pinot and so will be limited to targeting stages at the 2026 Giro. Fortunately the race route should favour the brave but the French team will have to work hard to avoid a long, anonymous three weeks in Italy.

Lorenzo Germani flies the flag for Italy at Groupama-FDJ United and is far more talented than his palmarès indicate. He rode for their development team until 2022, winning the Italian under-23 national title and a stage at the Giro Ciclistico della Valle d'Aosta. There is no reason why he can't step up and win again at WorldTour level and the French team have rightly extended his contract.

Rémi Cavagna is arguably the Groupama-FDJ United team leader and will chase stage victories and target the Tuscan time trial. Paul Penhoët is a rider to watch.

Netcompany Ineos

• Team leader(s): Egan Bernal, Thymen Arensman
• Objectives: GC podium, time trial, stages
• Rider to watch: Filippo Ganna
• Full team: Egan Bernal, Thymen Arensman, Filippo Ganna, Jack Haig, Magnus Sheffield, Embret Svestad–Bårdseng, Connor Swift, Ben Turner

Netcompany Ineos will show off their new colours and new AI sponsor at the Giro d'Italia, swapping their bright orange and white for more subtle green-grey colours.

Netcompany Ineos hope to return to fighting for Grand Tour success and that perhaps start at the Corsa Rosa, with Egan Bernal and Thymen Arensman.

Bernal looked strong at the recent Tour of the Alps and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and seems to have recovered from the knee problem that disrupted his early spring. Three weeks off the bike and time at home at altitude in Colombia could leave him fresh for the final week in the mountains and an expected battle with Jonas Vingegaard. Bernal won the 2021 Giro and was seventh last year but is surely aiming higher this year.

Arensman 'saved' Ineos' 2025 Tour hopes with two stages victories but suffered his way through the Giro after losing precious time on the opening stage. He seems to have more self-confidence after his Tour victories and finished third overall at the Tour of the Alps behind Pellizzari and Bernal.

This year's Giro has a more gentle start and Ineos will be hoping the Dutchman can survive the opening week and then emerge in the mountain stages. He was second in the Tirreno-Adriatico time trial and so could gain time on some GC rivals in the 42km flat time trial on the same roads along the Tuscan coast.

Ganna is a favourite for the sole time trial and will also target stage victories on home roads, while acting as a GC bodyguard for Bernal and Arensman. Other riders like Jack Haig, Connor Swift and Ben Turner will play similar support roles for Ineos' two-pronged GC attack.

Lidl-Trek

• Team leader(s): Jonathan Milan, Derek Gee-West
• Objectives: GC podium, sprints
• Rider to watch: Giulio Ciccone
• Full team: Matteo Sobrero, Max Walscheid, Jonathan Milan, Derek Gee-West, Giulio Ciccone, Simone Consonni, Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier, Tim Tom Teutenberg

Lidl-Trek have endured a disappointing spring campaign due to illness and injury, failing to live-up to their new super-team billing and their own high expectations. Team manager Luca Guercilena will be hoping the team bounces back at the Giro with a two-pronged sprint and GC team strategy.

Jonathan Milan wants to return to his Grand Tour sprinting best and repeat his three Giro stage victories of 2024 and dominance of the points competition. Milan won two stages at the 2025 Tour and the green points jersey as he alternated Grand Tour goals with Mads Pedersen. This year the Dane gets the Tour slot and Milan spends May in Italy, using his sprinting power and leadout train to full effect.

Milan's last win came on stage 7 of Tirreno-Adriatico and his cobbled Classics campaign was a flop but he will have Max Walscheid and Simone Consonni to help him in the Giro sprints.

Lidl-Trek signed Derek Gee-West and Juan Ayuso as a GC leaders and the Canadian will target the Giro, three years after his break-through performance and four second places on stages.

Gee-West showed his GC credentials with fourth overall in last year's Giro and he could emerge to be one of Vingeggard's biggest threats. He can time trial and climb, with only his limited racing during the last 12 months raising doubts about his staying power over three weeks.

Giulio Ciccone will provide Gee-West with vital experience and support, while also targeting his own stage opportunities in Lidl-Trek's busy tactical plan.

Lotto Intermarché

• Team leader: Lennert Van Eetvelt, Arnaud De Lie
• Objectives: Top ten on GC, sprints, stages
• Rider to watch: Matys Grisel
• Full team: Simone Gualdi, Jonas Rutsch, Mathieu Kockelman, Milan Menten, Arnaud De Lie, Toon Aerts, Jasper De Buyst, Lorenzo Rota

The Lotto team opted to miss the Giro during their time as a ProTeam but are back in 2026 after their merger with Intermarché and return to the WorldTour.

The Belgian team knows better than most the importance of scoring UCI ranking points and will no doubt race with that goal in mind in Italy, just like some of their mid-ranking WorldTour rivals.

Arnaud De Lie and his leadout man Jasper De Buyst were somewhat of a surprise selection and may only stay in the Giro for the opening ten days but the Belgian will be a sprint contender.

Lennert Van Eetvelt is Lotto Intermarché's GC leader for the Giro, with a top ten offering precious UCI points. His spring was disrupted by two crashes at Strade Bianche and Tirreno-Adriatico but he has shown his climbing talents in the past and will surely be a contender in the mountain stages.

Simone Gualdi will make his Grand Tour debut in Italy, with cyclocross rider Toon Aerts also in the final eight names.

Movistar

• Team leader(s): Enric Mas, Juan Pedro López
• Objectives: GC top ten, stages
• Rider to watch: Einer Rubio
• Full team: Joan Pedro López, Javier Romo, Enric Mas, Nelson Oliveira, Einer Rubio, Ivan Garcia Cortina, Orluis Aular, Lorenzo Milesi

Movistar have a long tradition of success at the Giro d'Italia and appear to be targeting the race more than the Tour de France in 2026.

Enric Mas, Juan Pedro López and Einer Rubio are on the team's roster and all three can target the GC and potentially finish in the top ten, considering the limited GC contenders in this year's race. The road will eventually decide who becomes Movistar's protected GC rider and as their The Least Expected Day team documentary revealed, that is always fascinating to watch.

31-year-old Mas is looking for redemption after struggling at the 2025 Tour de France, López is the new kid in Movistar's colours after his move from Lidl-Trek and will want to repeat his spell in the maglia rosa from 2022. Rubio is more of a pure climber but won a Giro stage in 2023 and was eighth overall in the 2025 Giro.

NSN Cycling

• Team leader(s): Ethan Vernon, Corbin Strong
• Objectives: Stages, sprints
• Rider to watch: Alessandro Pinarello
• Full team: Alessandro Pinarello, Corbin Strong, Dion Smith, Nick Schultz, Ethan Vernon, Jan Hirt, Ryan Mullen, Jake Stewart

NSN endured a stressful 2025 as Israel-Premier Tech due to various protests that reached a tense climax at the Vuelta a Espana. They now have a new owner, new sponsors and a new jersey for 2026 and will be keen to show themselves in their first Grand Tour.

With Joe Blackmore and Stevie Williams out of action due to injury, NSN will field stage hunters and sprinters in the Giro and be especially aggressive in the opening stages in Bulgaria and then in the south of Italy.

Ethan Vernon and Corbin Strong will share the sprinting duties, depending on the profile of the stages.

Vernon is more of a pure sprinter and so is suited to stage 1 and the expected sprints in Cosenza, Naples, Novi Ligure and Milan. Strong has more of a power finish but can also survive the late climbs like on stage 2 to Tarnovo and in Potenza and Pieve di Soligo. Vernon has already won four times in 2026, including stages at the Tour Down Under and the Volta a Catalunya. Strong was fifth at Milan-San Remo and both have trained at altitude in recent weeks to peak for the start of the Giro.

Alessandro Pinarello is a rider to watch. The 22-year-old Italian is not related to the bike brand and developed with the Bardiani team and joined NSN this season. He was 12th at the Volta ao Algarve, tenth at Tirreno-Adriatico and third overall at O Gran Camiño behind Adam Yates and Jørgen Nordhagen, beating both of them to win the final stage.

The Giro always thrusts young riders into the spotlight and it could be Pinarello's turn, especially if Vinegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike allow breaks to stay away and other riders to wear the maglia rosa in the first part of the race.

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe

• Team leader(s): Giulio Pellizzari, Jai Hindley
• Objectives: GC podium, mountain stages
• Rider to watch: Nico Denz
• Full team: Nico Denz, Ben Zwiehoff, Mick van Dijke, Aleksandr Vlasov, Jai Hindley, Giulio Pellizzari, Giovanni Aleotti, Gianni Moscon

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe stuttered for much of 2025 but their strength in depth and performance work behind the scene seems to be paying off this year.

Remco Evenepoel is focused on the Tour de France after his Classics campaign, but Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe appear to be the biggest threat to Visma-Lease a Bike and Jonas Vingegaard's hopes of winning the Giro.

Pellizzari appears to be Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe's Giro leader in ascendance for the Giro but they also have 2022 Giro winner Jai Hindley and Aleksandr Vlasov on their roster.

Pellizzari is Italy's next great stage racer and the Italian tifosi love his friendly, joyful racing style and approach to life. A few days in the maglia rosa would quickly make him a national hero and victory over Vingegaard would make him a global fan favourite.

He dominated the Tour of the Alps, riding away from Bernal, Arensman and Michael Storer. The Giro is a lot longer and a lot harder but Pellizzari finished sixth overall in the 2025 Giro, sixth in the 2025 Vuelta a España and won a mountain stage. He is primed to step up a level in his home Grand Tour.

Hindley was fourth in the 2025 Vuelta and should not be dismissed. He crashed out of the 2025 Giro and may have been overtaken in the Red Bull hierarchy but he has a Grand Tour temperament and experience of Italy and the Giro that can make a huge difference.

His 2022 Giro victory was opportunistic but he fought for his chance and raced smart day after day. The laid-back Australian will be happy for Pellizzari to hog the limelight, while he saves energy for the final week and a possible shot at overall victory.

Soudal-QuickStep

• Team leader(s): Paul Magnier, Filippo Zana
• Objectives: Top ten GC, stages
• Rider to watch: Gianmarco Garofoli
• Full team: Paul Magnier, Ayco Bastiaens, Gianmarco Garofoli, Andrea Raccagni Noviero, Jasper Stuyven, Fabio Van den Bossche, Dries Van Gestel, Filippo Zana

The absence of Mikel Landa changes Soudal-QuickStep's Giro d'Italia ambitions significantly, putting any GC hopes on the shoulders of Italy's Filippo Zana and more pressure on Paul Magnier to win sprint stages.

Zana joined QuickStep from Jayco AlUla this winter and seems to have flourished. He finished eighth overall at the Tour Down Under, was a more recent 12th at La Flèche Wallonne and 10th at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and won the lower-level Giro di Sardegna stage race. He has ridden the Giro six times and was 11th overall in 2024. He will surely do better in 2026.

Magnier was expected to have a successful 2026 spring. However, he and the team faded as the racing intensified and the young Frenchman was left fatigued and frustrated by the time he finished 36th at the Tour of Flanders and took a break.

With Tim Merlier given the Tour de France sprinter's slot, the Giro is Magnier's moment. He made his Grand Tour debut in the 2025 Giro and took three top ten placings before leaving the race after two weeks. He is older and stronger this year and so has higher ambitions, with the presence of Jasper Stuyven a voice of experience and vital support in the sprint leadouts.

Magnier won 19 times in 2025, with an especially fruitful end of season. He will be hoping to find the same form and similar success starting in Bulgaria, knowing the opening stages also give him a shot at the maglia rosa.

Jayco AlUla

• Team leader: Ben O'Connor
• Objectives: GC podium, stages
• Rider to watch: Alan Hatherly
• Full team: Pascal Ackermann, Koen Bouwman, Bob Donaldson, Felix Engelhardt, Alan Hatherly, Chris Juul-Jensen, Ben O’Connor, Andrea Vendrame

Ben O’Connor is a realist and has opted to target the GC at the Giro d'Italia rather than suffer against Tadej Pogačar and others at the Tour de France. If the Giro goes well, O’Connor will use his fitness to target stage victories in France in July.

The Australian's Grand Tour career ignited with a stage win at the 2020 October 'Covid Giro'. He then went on to finish fourth at the 2021 Tour, fourth at the 2024 Giro and led the 2024 Vuelta for two weeks.

That palmarès makes O'Connor a true Giro contender even if he is the first to acknowledge moments of weakness. O'Connor may lose time to Vingegaard in the key 42km time trial but there are plenty of other occasions where his aggressive racing style could pay off.

Jayco AlUla have tried to cover multiple bases with their Giro squad, as a back-up plan to O'Connor's GC strategy and to score UCI ranking points.

Alan Hatherly is on a fast track transformation from a world class mountain biker to WorldTour pro and he proved it with 13th at Tirreno-Adriatico and third at the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali. He will be making his Grand Tour debut at the Giro but will be excellent support for O'Connor, along with Koen Bouwman. Pascal Ackermann and emerging British rider Robert Donaldson gives Jayco AlUla sprint and breakaway options.

Picnic PostNL Raisin

• Team leader: Casper van Uden
• Objectives: Stages
• Rider to watch: Sean Flynn
• Full team: Warren Barguil, Frank van den Broek, Casper van Uden, Timo de Jong, Chris Hamilton, Gijs Leemrijze, Tim Naberman, Sean Flynn

Picnic PostNL Raisin are struggling this season but the Giro offers the Dutch team a chance to stage a fight back, hopefully with the help of new sponsor Raisin coming on board for the Giro.

Max Poole told Cyclingnews in January that he hoped to target the GC at the Giro after finishing 11th in 2025. The talented British rider started 2026 at the Volta ao Algarve but has not raced since, team management admitting that he has been slowed by illness, linked to the Epstein-Barr virus he suffered in the second half of 2025.

Frank van den Broek will try to stand-in for Poole, while Casper van Uden leads the sprinting ambitions. Scotland's Sean Flynn is a rider to watch.

Van den Broek is a future talent but lack Poole's proven results, even if Van den Broek won the 2024 Presidential Tour of Turkiye. Like Picnic PostNL, he just needs the wheel to turn and for luck to go his way.

Pinarello-Q36.5

• Team leader(s): Chris Harper, David de la Cruz
• Objectives: Top ten GC, stages, sprints
• Rider to watch: Matteo Moschetti
• Full team: Chris Harper, David de la Cruz, Sjoerd Bax, Fabio Christen, David Gonzalez, Mark Donovan, Matteo Moschetti, Mickolas Zukowsky

Tom Pidcock is fully focused on the Tour de France and so Chris Harper will carry Pinarello-Q36.5's GC hopes in the Corsa Rosa and other riders will chase sprint and stage victories.

The 31-year-old Australian has started seven Grand Tours but only finished three of them but he was 23rd overall in the 2025 Giro when riding for Jayco AlUla. Simon Yates' Colle delle Finestre attack overshadowed Harper's win in Sestriere at last year's Giro but it was a sign of his stage race talents. A similar success would make his and Pinarello-Q36.5's Giro a success.

Harper enjoyed a 21-day race block in Australia and the Middle East, then trained hard and returned at the Tour of the Alps and finished seventh overall, one spot ahead of Ben O'Connor.

Eddie Dunbar also moved across from Jayco AlUla but has not raced since Paris-Nice. Fellow Irishman Sam Bennett also missed out on a Giro ride.

Those absences create opportunities for sprinter Matteo Moschetti, Sjoerd Bax and Fabio Christen.

Polti VisitMalta

• Team leader: Mirco Maestri
• Objectives: Breakaways, stage opportunities
• Rider to watch: Ludovico Crescioli
• Full team: Mirco Maestri, Mattia Bais, Ludovico Crescioli, Giovanni Lonardi, Andrea Mifsud, Thomas Pesenti, Alessandro Tonelli, Diego Pablo Sevilla

Polti VisitMalta, like Bardiani CSF 7 Saber, just finished inside the top 30 of the UCI 2025 team ranking and so were eligible for a Grand Tour wild card.

Alberto Contador and Ivan Basso run a well-managed team but lack the riders to make an impact in the Giro GC. Davide Piganzoli was team leader until 2025 and finished 14th in the Giro but transferred to Visma-Lease a bike for 2026 and will be one of Vingegaard's key domestiques this year.

Polti VisitMalta will try to hoover up every possible opportunity that comes their way in the Giro, joining early breaks, going on the attack on the days when the GC riders will watch each other and staying vigilant for any chance to pull on the mountains and points jersey.

Mirco Maestri will again be Polti VisitMalta's road captain, with other riders preparing for the Giro at the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey. Ludovico Crescioli and Thomas Pesenti sealed their places by finishing first and second in a sprint at the Giro dell'Appennino.

Tudor Pro Cycling

• Team leader: Michael Storer
• Objectives: Top five GC, stages
• Rider to watch: Mathys Rondel
• Full team: Mathys Rondel, Michael Storer, Will Barta, Robin Froidevaux, Luca Mozzato, Florian Stork, Larry Warbasse

Tudor Pro Cycling are a WorldTour team in everything but name and have serious ambitions for the Giro with Michael Storer.

Marc Hirschi, Matteo Trentin, Julian Alaphilippe and Stefan Küng are all out of action and hoping to peak for the Tour de France, so young riders like Mathys Rondel will get their chance at the Giro, with veteran Larry Warbasse as road captain. 22-year-old French stage racer Rondel impressed on the mountain stages at the Tour of the Alps, finishing fifth overall, one place behind Storer.

Storer was not as strong as when he won the Tour of the Alps in 2025 but appears on a consistent trajectory, after riding the UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico.

He was tenth in the 2025 Giro and then targeted stage victories in the Tour. He faces a similar intense summer this year but could surely finish in the top five at the Giro this time.

Visma-Lease a Bike

• Team leader: Jonas Vingegaard
• Objectives: Win the GC
• Rider to watch: Davide Piganzoli
• Full team: Jonas Vingegaard, Victor Campenaerts, Wilco Kelderman, Timo Kielich, Sepp Kuss, Bart Lemmen, Davide Piganzoli, Tim Rex

Jonas Vingegaard was always the standout favourite for the Giro d'Italia. Now that João Almeida, Mikel Landa and other GC contenders are out of the race, the Giro is definitely Vingegaard's to lose.

Visma-Lease a Bike have won nine Grand Tours in the last seven years. If the Dane falls short on the three-week ride from Bulgaria to Rome, he will face criticism and doubts about him ever getting back to his best and ever beating Tadej Pogačar. Visma-Lease a Bike are also looking for a new title sponsor, so the pressure is on for the next month.

Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike are no doubt aware of all the expectations and are used to it. They will shrug it off, convinced of their talents and the work done to prepare for the Giro-Tour double they have planned.

Vingegaard and key teammates like Victor Campenaerts, Sepp Kuss and Davide Piganzoli recently spent three weeks at altitude to prepare for the Giro, naturally boosting their oxygen-carrying capacity and doing specific training. Timo Kielich and Bart Lemmen are also part of the eight-rider roster, giving Visma one of the strongest, most experienced and GC constructed teams in this year's Giro.

Vingegaard has never ridden the Giro but has ridden eight Grand Tours, won the Tour twice, finished second to Pogačar three times and won the Vuelta as recently as last September. He could become just the eighth male rider in the history of the sport to win all three Grand Tours. Vingegaard got a good taste of Italian racing conditions when he won Tirreno-Adriatico in 2024 and showed his 2026 form early with victory at Paris-Nice and the Volta a Catalunya. He is very different to Tadej Pogačar but still one of the greats of his generation.

Visma-Lease a Bike won the 2025 Giro with Simon Yates' last mountain stage attack. This year they have surely planned every detail of their race. They will have calculated when Vingegaard can take time on his rivals, when they will have to protect him and when they can perhaps let other teams and riders go on the attack and even take the maglia rosa. Like last year, Visma-Lease a Bike will play a long game, with the goal of winning the maglia rosa in Rome. That's all that really matters to them.

Their biggest problem is what they can't calculate or control: the Italian weather in May, the rough and twisting Italian roads, the pressure of crazy, in-your-face tifosi and the unique demands of racing the Giro d'Italia as the big favourite.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG

• Team leader(s): Adam Yates, Jay Vine
• Objectives: GC podium, stages
• Rider to watch: Jan Christen
• Full team: Jhonatan Narváez, Marc Soler, Jay Vine, Adam Yates, Jan Christen, António Morgado, Igor Arrieta, Mikkel Bjerg

UAE Team Emirates-XRG went close to winning the 2025 Giro with Isaac del Toro but their chances for this year's race appear a step lower, especially after João Almeida was hit by a virus. With Tadej Pogačar and Del Toro focused on the Tour de France, Adam Yates will have the opportunity to emulate his twin brother Simon.

Yates won the short O Gran Camiño stage race in Spain but was expected to be a mountain domestique for Almeida after happily adapting to that role since joining UAE in 2023. He has finished third in the Tour and fourth in the Vuelta but never won a Grand Tour. He has the opportunity of a lifetime but it may have come too late in his career.

Jay Vine could step up and is said to be on form but there are questions about the Australian's Grand Tour GC credentials. He has won stages and can time trial and climb but can he do it for three weeks and in Italy? His spring has also been disrupted by injury after his kangaroo crash at the Tour Down Under and then another high-speed crash at the Volta a Catalunya.

UAE have pre-selected some of their strongest riders for Pogačar's Tour squad, with Marc Soler, António Morgado, Igor Arrieta, Jhonatan Narváez, Mikkel Bjerg and the talented but unpredictable talent Jan Christen sent to the Giro. They can offer GC support but also different stage winning options if UAE's GC hopes fade away.

Unibet Rose Rockets

• Team leader(s): Wout Poels, Dylan Groenewegen
• Objectives: GC top ten, sprints
• Rider to watch: Elmar Reinders
• Full team: Dylan Groenewegen, Hartthijs de Vries, Karsten Feldmann, Tomáš Kopecký, Lukáš Kubiš, Niklas Larsen, Wout Poels, Elmar Reinders

The Tour de France organisers surprisingly snubbed the Unibet Rose Rockets when they awarded their 2026 wildcards but RCS Sport made sure that the fan-friendly Dutch-based team would make their Grand Tour debut on Italian roads.

The Rockets can win stages with sprinter Dylan Groenewegen and perhaps even veteran climber Wout Poels who is looking to complete a trilogy of Grand Tour stage victories. Elmar Reinders is a rider to watch due to his Grand Tour experience. He has become a vital part of Groenwegen's lead out.

Groenewegen is 32 but is not slowing down in the sprints. He has already struck four times since joining the Rockets, including at the Ronde van Brugge where he beat Jasper Philipsen. He will face Milan, Magnier and Groves in Italy but winning the first stage in Bulgaria and so pulling another first maglia rosa would be a dream scenario for Bas Tietema and his young team owner colleagues.

Lukáš Kubiš is also part of the Unibet Giro line-up, offering a sprint alternative to Groenewegen on the rolling stages.

Uno-X Mobility

• Team leader(s): Johannes Kulset, Andreas Leknessund
• Objectives: GC top 10, stages
• Rider to watch: Frederik Dversnes
• Full team: Johannes Kulset, Andreas Leknessund, Markus Hoelgaard, Erlend Blikra, Frederik Dversnes, Ådne Holte, Sakarias Loland, Martin Tjotta.

Uno-X Mobility are making their debut at the Giro d'Italia and were the first team to name their full Giro line-up, selecting Johannes Kulset, Andreas Leknessund, Markus Hoelgaard, Erlend Blikra, Frederik Dversnes, Adne Holte, Sakarias Loland and Martin Tjotta to wear their distinctive red and yellow colours for the Corsa Rosa.

Kulset and Leknessund are both consistent stage races, with Leknessund finishing eighth in the 2023 Giro and wearing the maglia rosa for five days after being part of an opportunistic breakaway while racing with DSM.

The 2026 Giro should offer similar opportunities. Uno-X have nominated Kulset as their GC rider but will surely send riders on the attack whenever possible.

Erlend Blikra will target the sprints and showed his sprint by winning a stage at this year's Tour of Oman. Frederik Dversnes is a stage hunter with talent, as he showed at the 2025 Tirreno-Adriatico, when he beat Mathieu van der Poel to win after a hilly ride to Pergola.

XDS Astana

• Team leader(s): Alberto Bettiol, Diego Ulissi, Lorenzo Fortunato
• Objectives: Stages
• Rider to watch: Christian Scaroni
• Full team: Harold Martín López, Alberto Bettiol, Arjen Livyns, Davide Ballerini, Christian Scaroni, Diego Ulissi, Thomas Guillermo Silva, Metteo Malucelli

XDS Astana impressed with the way they targeted UCI ranking points in 2025 to stage a comeback and secure their WorldTour status. They have evolved their strategy for 2026, target victories as well as points, and have already won nine times in 2026, including two stages at Paris-Nice. Their Giro roster is packed with stage hunters and the Italians on the team, who will be extra motivated to win in their home Grand Tour.

Alberto Bettiol is arguably the team's figurehead, despite his dip in results since leaving EF to join Astana in the summer of 2024. The Tuscan always lifts his game when racing in Italy and won a stage with a long solo attack in 2021.

Ulissi is now 36 but has won at least one race per season since turning professional back in 2010. He has won eight stages at the Giro over the years and finally wore the maglia rosa in 2025, even if it was just for one day.

Christian Scaroni will lead XDS Astana's GC ambitions and was eighth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and won the Tour of Oman with victory on the Green Mountain finish. He won a stage to San Valentino in 2025 and was second in the mountains classification behind teammate Lorenzo Fortunato.

Fortunato went deep every day chasing points in 2025 but has a different programme for this season. Matteo Malucelli offers a sprint option with the on-form Davide Ballerini always a threat in reduced sprints.