The last two GC winners of the Giro d'Italia are here again in Schleck (2015/2018) and Alarcon (2017) and obviously both will belong to the top favourites again. That being said, the competition at the very top is huge here and in fact both are not even the biggest podium contenders even though the depth of the Giro is rather small GC wise.

The top favourite spot is probably shared between Spilak and Herklotz. Both have won a GT before and now want to take the Giro crown as well. Next to Alarcon they are the best climbers here but have a much better allround package which always comes in handy on a 21 day stage race. While Isostar might have the most complete allrounder here, Puma`s reigning Vuelta champ regularly proves to become the very best at 25 years of age only.

Not far behind them Gesink has to be named. Former winner of the Vuelta and consistent podium rider in GTs for years now. Next to Spilak the most complete rider here but lacking a bit on the mountains in comparison. Still alongside Schleck and Alarcon the most likely podium contender.

And let`s be honest, those 5 looks easily the best, which makes it a challenge for anyone else to access the top5 fight, but 21 days are long and we have seen crazier things.


The 3 riders with best chances to maybe beat one of the top5 are Quintana, Henao Montoya and Hirt.
Moser having a steady progression by Hirt into a PT stage racer. This will be his first real opportunity to enter the top5 after being 7th here last season less than 1min behind Alarcon in fact!
Henao Montoya back in the PT after a PCT season and while he often fights for the spots around 10th in GTs, the Giro is different and he seems to like this race. 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th in his palmares and this is surely a chance to land there again.
Quintana could get his best GT result ever as so far he only had a 14th and 16th in his palmares. A top10 is very likely here and top5 not totally far off.


Another step behind with even more need of good days in the mountains another six riders:
Olivier being a consistent ~15th spot GT rider with one Giro top10 in 9th in 2016 though. Good chances to maybe repeat this here.
Haig got some training and is a serious contender for those top10 spots here. So far 3 top20 GT results in his palmares with a 13th being his very best.
Yates. Adam this is and he always is an interesting rider being ahead of his stats a lot of times. GT wise a huge 2017 TdF finishing 7th. Not impossible but very hard to repeat this.
And obviously we had no Italians so far, a country missing the very big names in GTs for severaly years now after being so successful with Cunego in the past.
So here are two home riders, which need every little extra bit by the crowd.
Bongiorno actually got 8th here in 2017 but usually is ~10 spots further behind. Festina gives him the freedom here to repeat such result.
Formolo is a great support rider but got some training and is here to attack the top10, which easily would be his best result in a GT.
Konig in fact has won the mountain jersey of the Giro back in 2012 and also came in 12th in the weaker field 2017. Such result is not unrealistic this year.


Of those top favourites I`d rank Puma with Herklotz no.1 in support as Arndt is easily the best lieutnant in the mountains of any GC team. Vasyliv is more than decent with various mid level climbers following.
Alarcon has the next best support with a mountain train of Ndayisenga mainly.
Schleck has two decent riders next to him in Goos and Godoy while makes the difference to the next favourites.
Spilak and Gesink have great support as well with lots of riders for the mountain stages around them but Jaramillo and Latour as very best are not on the same level as first mentioned or will quickly be the last support.

Other than those top riders, most leaders will have at least 1 support rider until late in the mountains with Indosat and Farfetch negatively need a mention as König really is not having the best support here with only one semi decent climber next to him and Yates also just 1 and tiny 2nd as support. Could really make the difference for those two in the fight for the top10.


Vosekalns, Dekker, Goos, Kruijswijk, Kolesnikov are all riders with some big GT palmares already and while not being the real names to watch here, it wouldn`t surprise to see them on a stage or two.

	Leader				Support 1		Support 2
		Mo	Hi	TT		Mo		Mo
Isostar	Spilak	84	81	76	Jaramillo	77	Augustyn	76
Puma	Herklotz	84	77	74	Arndt	79	Vasyliv	77
Generali	Gesink	82	80	79	Latour	77	Carpenter	76
Vesuvio	Schleck	83	73	72	Goos	77	Godoy	77
Repsol	Alarcon	84	73	67	Ndayisenga	78	Pedrero	76
Air France	Quintana	82	74	71	Koch	77	Rosch	77
T-Mobile	Henao	82	71	71	Mai	77	Wohrer	75
Moser	Hirt	81	74	73	Kolar	77	Vysna	77
Bennelong	Haig	80	74	77	Smith	78	Roe	75
Aegon	Olivier	80	76	69	Dekker	78	Zardini	76
Indosat	Konig	79	75	74	Warchol	76	-	-
Farfetch	Yates	79	76	71	Min	75	-	-
Gazelle	Formolo	79	77	69	Kruijswijk	76	Kangert	75
Festina	Bongiorno	79	75	68	Cataldo	76	-	-
Lierse	Oomen	78	74	72	Dall'Oste	76	De Plus	75
Aker	Tvetcov	77	75	74	Lunke	78	-	-
Grieg	Nesset	78	73	69	Iturria	77	-	-
Fablok	Poljanski	77	77	67	Raileanu	77	-	-
Tinkoff	Novikov	77	72	70	Kolesnikov	76	Rybalkin	75
eBuddy	Aru	78	74	64	Majka	76	-	-
Evonik	Vosekalns	78	75	62	Sakalou	76	Egger	75
SPAR	Jang	76	76	62	Chhetri	76	-	-
Valio	Gebremedhin	75	72	64	-	-	-	-
Podium	Grashev	72	69	64	-	-	-	-

Swift easily is the top sprinter here and the man to beat. He is a level ahead of all others and also one of the better "punchy" sprinters in this field. His team support is okay for a solid train having Scully, Oss, Dakteris and Silva with him.
Howard his biggest contender. That said, his team support is rather non-existent focussing on Haig a lot more.
Vesely also having this issue with teh team focus more on the GC but at least he got Sbaragli with him, who could make the difference in the preparation.
Van Poppel very similar and while the team does not have a big GC rider, his support also is not as strong. Brus mainly with Van der Kooij potentially another helper.
Goss as last of the top5 here with small support just like in the GC area. A lot on Speirs shoulders here.


Guardini for the Italians and he has done well already this season. The support of Stepniak and Cohen is one of the better here and should help him.
Stauff a very similar spinter with Ackermann and Barbier as less strong support though.
Gaviria as best "hilly" sprinter with also good support in Bonifazio and Mareczko, well until the first mountain at least. Impressive though to see the team almost fully unmaxed!
Bouhanni, Serebriakov, Meyer, Manninen, Bertilsson, Kemboi, Afewerki other names to potentially show up regularly but not on the same level.

	Sprinter				Leadout 1		Leadout 2
		Sp	Acc	Fl		Sp		Sp
Aker	Swift	84	82	74	Scully	79	Dakteris	77
Bennelong	Howard	82	79	76	-	-	-	-
Aegon	Vesely	81	80	73	Sbaragli	77	-	-
Indosat	Goss	81	77	73	Speirs	76	-	-
eBuddy	Van Poppel	81	78	72	Brus	78	-	-
Festina	Stauff	80	81	74	Ackermann	76	Barbier	75
Fablok	Guardini	80	82	72	Stepniak	79	Cohen	77
Valio	Manninen	80	80	74	-	-	-	-
Farfetch	Kemboi	79	80	78	Prasad	75	-	-
SPAR	Bouhanni	80	77	74	-	-	-	-
Tinkoff	Serebriakov	80	77	74	Meyer	80	-	-
Lierse	Gaviria	79	82	74	Bonifazio	78	Mareczko	76
Vesuvio	Afewerki	79	80	73	-	-	-	-
Grieg	Bertilsson	79	77	73	Pedersen	76	-	-
Evonik	Liepins	78	79	73	Eislers	77	-	-
Air France	Clarke	78	76	71	-	-	-	-
Podium	Edmondson	77	75	73	Matthews	76	-	-
Generali	Krizek	76	75	70	-	-	-	-
Gazelle	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Isostar	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Moser	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Puma	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Repsol	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
T-Mobile	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Some riders didn`t get a mention yet or only in another role, though they might actually have a chance for a stage win in their main discipline.

In especially Ginanni has to be named here as best puncheur alongside Spilak, who has a shot on the pure hill stages. Couple others there as well for a later break maybe just like the flat beasts.

The time trials are all a bit hilly, which often goes towards the GC riders then, but some such as Dennis or Malori belong to the best here and mustn`t be ignored even though Gesink is the clear favourite being best in TTs and having the uphill skills.

		Hill		TT		Flat
Gazelle	Ginanni	81	Kangert	77	Kruijswijk	78
Indosat	Le Roux	77	-	-	Ji	80
Tinkoff	-	-	Malori	79	Malori	78
Farfetch	Turgis	77	Atkins	78	-	-
Generali	Teuns	78	Dees	77	-	-
SPAR	Sirironnachai	77	Leung	78	-	-
Air France	Edet	77	-	-	Kamyshev	77
Aker	-	-	-	-	Oss	78
Bennelong	-	-	Dennis	78	-	-
Aegon	Zardini	77	-	-	-	-
Evonik	Smirnovs	77	-	-	-	-
Lierse	Moscon	77	-	-	-	-
Moser	-	-	Turek	77	-	-
Puma	Mager	77	-	-	-	-
Valio	-	-	-	-	Aaltio	77

Croatia14 wrote:
Well Herklotz here is a huge surprise, and doesn't make sense at all looking at the Tour route imo. But hey, now we have the problem of dealing with the strongest Stage Racer.