Italy will celebrate the 107th edition of the Giro from May 4-26, and SBS & SBS On Demand will once again deliver all the action to Australian audiences live and on demand.
Pogacar enters the maiden men’s Grand Tour of the year fresh off his win at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, his seventh victory in his last 10 days of racing.
Such a run of results have earned the Slovenian the UCI’s number one ranking going into the first stage in Venaria Reale, where 218 riders will begin their three-week journey to Rome in the hopes of making history.
But while Pogacar has never competed at the Giro, former Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) has and will be doing everything in his power to avenge his runners-up effort at last year’s edition.
Thomas wore the maglia rosa until the penultimate stage to Monte Lussari, where Primoz Roglic prevailed in a dramatic time trial to snatch the overall victory.
Roglic, however, will not be in Italy to defend his crown this time out, leaving the likes of Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious), Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla), Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Daniel Felipe Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe), Juan Pedro Lopez (Lidl-Trek), and Ben O’Connor ready to pounce.
O’Connor will have the full support of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale and is one of 11 Australians selected to compete in the Giro - four of them, Caleb Ewan, Michael Hepburn, Lucas Plapp, and David McPartland, belonging to Team Jayco AlUla.
Christopher Hamilton will ride for dsm-firmenich PostNL; Michael Storer for Tudor Pro Cycling Team; Sam Welsford for Bora-Hansgrohe; Karen Groves for Alpecin-Deceuninck; and the duo of Simon Clarke and Nicholas Schultz will start for Israel-Premier Tech.
Groves, who won a stage in 2023, will be looking to fire in the flatter stages, as will Welsford and five-time Giro stage winner Ewan, who makes his return to the Italian Grand Tour for the first time since 2022.
The presence of Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), however, will certainly complicate proceedings, as will Fernando Gaviria (Movistar), Alberto Dainese (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty), Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), and Giro debutant Fabio Jakobsen (dsm–firmenich PostNL).
Not to be outdone, the stage hunters will also be on the prowl at the Corsa Rosa, seeking their own slice of history from the 21 opportunities on offer.
Six-time stage winner Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) will make his return, where he is expected to battle rivals such as Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates), Edoardo Affini (Visma-Lease a Bike), Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech), Nairo Quintana (Movistar), and newcomer Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar).
Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) and Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike) are two other big names bound to make an impact, with the hillier sections of the race reserved for climbers like Plapp, Storer, Hugh Carthy, Esteban Chaves (EF Education–EasyPost), Koen Bouwman (Visma-Lease a Bike), Maximilian Schachmann (Bora–Hansgrohe), Aurelien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), and Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious).
With four jerseys - pink (general classification), blue (mountains), cyclamen (points), white (young rider) - up for grabs, there’s something for everyone at the 2024 edition of the Giro d’Italia.
