Aussie time trial specialist in Giro for the long haul

ROHAN Dennis has grand plans, meaning he is more interested in how he performs at the end than the start of the Giro d’Italia.

The Australian cycling star’s time trial prowess means he is one of the favourites for the 9.7km opening stage of the Giro tonight in Jerusalem.

The Giro will spend three days in Israel — the first time any of cycling’s three grand tours have started outside Europe.

Dennis is in the midst of a long-term plan to transform himself into a rider who can be an overall challenger in those big three-week races — the Giro, the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana.

So while the BMC team leader will be one to watch tonight, he is more interested in how he performs later when the Giro hits the big Italian moun- tains. The 27-year-old had to pull out of last year’s Giro in the opening week after a race crash.

“I found out last year that anything can happen, even in the first couple of days, so I’m not too worried about the end result this year,” he said.

Dennis became the seventh Australian to win the Tour’s famed yellow jersey when the won the opening time trial in 2015. He also led the Vuelta at the start of last year’s race, so if he can win the opening Giro time trial it would give him the rare distinction of having worn the leader’s jersey in all three grand tours.

There will be plenty of Australian interest in the Giro, with seven riders.

Australian team MitcheltonScott will also feature Colombian Esteban Chaves and British rider Simon Yates, who are overall contenders. Chaves finished second in 2016, Mitchelton-Scott’s best grand tour result, but last year his season was ruined by injury and the death of a friend.

Other Aussies: Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott); Chris Hamilton (Sunweb); Zak Dempster (Israel Cycling Academy); Adam Hansen (Lotto Soudal); Ben O’Connor (Dimension Data); Mitch Docker (Education FirstDrapac).