Official release

11-man shortlist to shape telephone squad's official roster for Corsa Rosa's 97th edition

Movistar Team general manager Eusebio Unzué has defined an 11-rider preselection for the 97th edition of the Giro d’Italia, which starts in Belfast on May 9. Nairo Quintana leads a strong shortlist also featuring 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.

The nine Blues eventually selected will tackle a demanding parcours, with five mountain-top finishes (Oropa, Plan di Montecampione, Val Martello, Rifugio Pamarotta and Monte Zoncolan, all of them into the second half of the race), several mid-mountain stages in the first ten days of racing and three time trials: the long, individual one Barolo (42km), the climb towards the Monte Grappa (27km) and the 22km TTT that will open a Corsa Rosa whose opening three days will be held in the island of Ireland.