Team SD Worx-Protime heads to the Giro d’Italia with a balanced squad

Team SD Worx-Protime travels to the Giro d’Italia with Anna van der Breggen, Lorena Wiebes, Femke Gerritse, Elena Cecchini, Barbara Guarischi, Mikayla Harvey and Valentina Cavallar. The Dutch WorldTour team hopes for stage success with Wiebes in the flat stages. “It would be nice if we could take the first pink jersey with Lorena. A good start is always a bonus,” said Van der Breggen.

Anna van der Breggen: “I’m coming out of a rest period and it’s difficult to estimate how far I will go in this Giro d’Italia Women. This season is going better than last year, when I lacked rhythm due to crashes and illness. The Giro was disappointing for me last year, so I’m curious to see how it will go this year. I had a good Vuelta Femenina and I hope to be well rested to continue that line of strong performances. The first part of the season has already been successful.”

“Whether Italy is a special country for me, given that I have already won the Giro four times and became world champion here? Yes, certainly. I like the type of courses they design here, with narrower roads and climbs. This style of racing suits me well. This Giro also has a nice route, with some flatter stages, a time trial and mountain stages. Whether it will be a very tough Giro also depends on the weather. There are many long stages, and if it’s 35 degrees, it will definitely be hard.”

“With what approach do I start? I hope to ride a good Giro. Whether it serves as preparation for the Tour de France? One does not rule out the other. If I can achieve a good general classification, it will also be a valuable step toward the Tour. There is a strong field at the start for the mountain stages. Demi Vollering, Marlen Reusser and Elisa Longo Borghini skipped the Vuelta and arrive fresh at the start. I haven’t raced against Marlen yet this season, so we’ll have to wait and see. I’ll just do my best and then we’ll see where that takes me. In the opening stage, we hope to already score with Lorena and take the pink jersey. That would be very nice,” Van der Breggen concluded.

Danny Stam: “We have a strong team at the start, which you can divide into two groups. On the one hand, this Giro d’Italia offers several flat stages that provide opportunities for stage wins with Wiebes. For that, we have Barbara Guarischi, Elena Cecchini and Femke Gerritse to support Lorena well. With Mikayla Harvey and Valentina Cavallar, we also have solid support in the mountains for Anna van der Breggen. Valentina is showing great progress, which is why she is included in this Giro d’Italia.”

“It’s a great course, with plenty of opportunities for the sprinters, which we are obviously pleased about. The time trial is challenging and there is an extremely tough mountain stage finishing on the Colle del Finestre. That is where the general classification will be decided. With Lorena, we hope to take the first pink jersey, while Anna is our rider for the overall classification. We are aiming for a top five. Some riders skipped the Vuelta to focus on the Giro-Tour combination, while Anna is riding all three Grand Tours. It remains to be seen how that will work out. May has already been a fantastic month for us with many successes. We hope to continue that momentum,” Stam concluded.