Feb 28, 2006 0
Giro Picks 22 Teams
RCS, the organizers of the Giro D’Italia announced that 22 teams will compete in the next edition of the Giro D’Italia. The 20 major ProTour teams are included in the mix along with Panaria and Selle-Italia. Panaria has earned their place with great performances of Emanuele Sella and Brett Lancaster. Brett Lancaster wore the Maglia Roas after a blistering 1k prologue time trial last year, while Emanuele Sella is a young fan favorite after winning a stage in Cesenatico in 2004.
Selle Italia earned their berth in the Giro based on the performances of Jose Rujano and Ivan Parra who terrorized the field with wins in the mountainous stages. Rujano nearly stole the Giro from Paolo Salvodelli ont he final mountain stage to Sestrierre, but came in a surprising third place. Neither of these riders will be on the team this year as Parra is now riding for Cofidis and Rujano is not riding for Selle Italia despite being under contract. Rujano pulled a no show for this past weekend’s races GP Chiasso and GP Lugano. The little Venezualan rider may wait out his contract with Selle Italia and join Quick Step for the Tour de France.
Despite the roster changes, Selle Italia does have a decent team that will probably provide some sparks with newfond South American talent Jose Serpa. Wladmir Belli, Fredy Gonzalez and other Italian veterans round out the the revamped roster for Gianni Savio’s squad.