Nairo Quintana (Movistar) was second overall in Tirreno-Adriatico(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Nairo Quintana (Movistar) prior to the start of stage 6(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Nario Quintana (Movistar) is a favourite for the overall(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The Spanish Movistar team has named a list of 10 riders who will be in the running to support Colombian climber Nairo Quintana as he aims for victory in the Giro d'Italia.
The Giro begins in Belfast on May 9, but will focus the bulk of the big climbing stages in the second half of the race. With five mountain-top finishes on the Oropa, Plan di Montecampione, Val Martello, Rifugio Pamarotta and Monte Zoncolan, Quintana will need a strong team.
The squad will choose eight riders from Italians Adriano Malori and Eros Capecchi, Polish climber Sylwester Szmyd, Costa Rica's Andrey Amador and Spaniards Fran Ventoso, Pablo Lastras, Igor Antón, Jonathan Castroviejo, Gorka Izagirre and José Herrada.
Selection will need to be balanced between climbers and roulers, as the 22km team time trial that serves as the opening stage will be one of three stages against the clock which will be important for the general classification. The other two are a longer, flatter individual test in Barolo (42km on stage 12), and an uphill time trial on Monte Grappa (stage 19) of 27 kilometers.
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