Geoghegan Hart in the vanguard as Team Ineos put trust in youth for Giro d’italia
Team Ineos have chosen a youthful line-up for their first grand tour since ending their 10-year link with Sky.
Scots cyclist Tao Geoghegan Hart, 24, and 21-year-old Russian Pavel Sivakov will lead their challenge at the Giro d’italia.
The duo will be joined on the start line in Bologna on Saturday by Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar, Colombian duo Sebastian Henao and Ivan Sosa, Ecuador’s Jhonatan Narvaez, Italian Salvatore Puccio and German veteran Christian Knees.
With the average age only 25, it is the youngest line-up the team have fielded in one of the three grand tours.
Narvaez and Sosa make their debuts at this level, while Geoghegan Hart and Sivakov will only be riding in their second grand tour after racing at last year’s Vuelta. The decision to go with such a young line-up was forced upon Team Ineos boss Sir Dave Brailsford when Egan Bernal broke his collarbone in a training accident on Saturday.
Bernal, only 22 himself, was so impressive on his grand tour debut at last year’s Tour de France that many observers had him as the favourite to defend the jersey the team dramatically won with British star Chris Froome in 2018.
The Colombian will now almost certainly line up alongside Froome – chasing a record-equalling fifth title – and defending champion Geraint Thomas in Brussels when the Tour de France starts on 6 July. Brailsford said: “Egan’s injury is a real shame as he was to lead the team in a grand tour for the first time. However, I’m sure he will be fighting fit come July.
“Over the last two seasons, we have been bringing together a carefully selected group of young riders who we believe to be the future of our team.”
While Sivakov and Geoghegan Hart claimed a superb one-two at the Tour of the Alps last month, the race to the finish line in Verona on 2 June will present a challenge of a different magnitude, with more than 3,500 kilometres of racing, seven summit finishes and three time trials.
The favourites for victory are 2017 winner Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands, Bury’s reigning Vuelta champion Simon Yates, Colombian climber Miguel Angel Lopez, Spanish star Mikel Landa, the in-form Slovenian Primoz Roglic and leading Italian hope Vincenzo Nibali, a two-time former Giro winner.