Ivan Basso reveals Polti Kometa's Giro aspirations: "Mountain jersey, stage win and top ten in the GC"

A new day means new team announcements for the Giro d'Italia. The modest Polti-Kometa team kicks off with a group of eight stage hunters, who, like many other teams, have one goal: to win!

We start with the Bais brothers. Davide Bais is on his third Giro, but it was during the last edition that he really made a name for himself. The 26-year-old Italian impressively won the seventh stage on Gran Sasso and subsequently wore the blue mountain jersey for six stages, finishing fourth in the mountain classification. This season, he also wore the green mountain jersey for two days in the Tirreno-Adriatico. "Participating in this beautiful race is always an honor that makes me happy and motivates both me and my teammates. My mindset will be the same as last year: fight for the mountain points and maybe find a good breakaway."

His one-year-older brother, Mattia Bais, recently showed impressive form in the Tour of the Alps and the Giro della Romagna. His aggressive racing style earned him no podiums in the Alps, but he did achieve a commendable sixth and seventh place in the mountain and points classifications, respectively. In the Giro della Romagna, he lost the sprint to Portuguese Antonio Morgado (UAE Emirates) and Spaniard Joan Bou (Euskaltel-Euskadi). Both brothers could be early contenders for the blue jersey.

Davide Bais also wore the mountain jersey for two days in the Tirreno-Adriatico this season

Italian diamond outsider for the white jersey

Much is also expected from Davide Piganzoli. The 21-year-old Italian is one of the outsiders for the white youth jersey and has already claimed his first pro victory this season at the Tour of Antalya, where he also took the overall and mountain classifications. Piganzoli also recorded a top twenty finish in the Tirreno-Adriatico and then impressed in the Tour of the Alps with a tenth place in the general classification.

In the sprints, Giovanni Lonardfi will try to mix it up with the other big names. The 27-year-old Italian has already had a victory this season in the Tour of Turkey, following the disqualification of Danny van Poppel, and has also shown off his fast legs with a plethora of placings in the Tour of Valencia and the Tour of Antalya, where he also claimed the points jersey. On the WorldTour level, the fast Italian has also finished in the top ten twice, in the Tirreno-Adriatico.

The team is rounded out by Matteo Fabbro, the Italian who took a step back this season and left BORA-hansgrohe, and his compatriots Mirco Maestri and Andrea Pietrobon. Spaniard Francisco Munoz is the only foreigner in the group.

Sports director Ivan Basso, who won the Giro twice, is particularly clear about his ambitions. "We deliver convincing performances, we can always compete with the WorldTour teams, and we present ourselves with a well-prepared lineup. We have riders of all ages and types. Many have ridden the Giro before and some are making their debut, a mix that enables us to compete for precise objectives. It's not enough for us to just do well in general. We want to race the right way, win a third stage in four years, fight for the mountain jersey, and finish in the top ten in the general classification."

Selection Polti-Kometa Giro d'Italia 2024

Matteo Fabbro
Mirco Maestri
Davide Bais
Mattia Bais
Davide Piganzoli
Andrea Pietrobon
Francisco Munoz

Team Polti Kometa

@TeamPoltiKometa

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𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐀𝐑𝐄 🩷 These will be the 8 riders who will face the big goal of the season ✨ 🫡 @giroditalia, here we go 🚀

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