Jurgen Van Den Broeck and André Greipel will lead Lotto Soudal in the Giro d'Italia. Both have ridden the Giro twice. Jurgen Van den Broeck was 74th and 7th in 2007 and 2008 respectively, the beginning of his career as a GC rider. André Greipel won a stage in 2008 and 2010, he’d like to repeat that this year.

“I remember my last Giro really well," Greipel said. I was actually sick at the start, had stomach aches the first three days and it took half a Giro before I was recuperated. Eventually I could win the 18th stage. Racing in Italy and specifically the Giro is special. It’s easy to say that as a rider, but it really is. The riders make the race of course, but the Giro has got something that other races don’t have: the atmosphere, the own character, the stage profiles,…

“Of course I have a certain ambition again. I want to win a stage. They say there are more sprint opportunities this year, but I don’t see more than five real bunch sprints. Apart from that, with Van den Broeck and Monfort we have two guys with expectations for GC. We have to find the right balance. We have a team that can do something in each type of stage. This year we chose to adapt my programme, therefore this Giro. I really wanted to ride the Giro. As a sportsman it is important to always set new goals. That keeps a rider motivated.”

“I’m happy the Giro will finally start," Van Den Broeck said. "The departure to the Giro is more relaxed than the departure to the Tour. I’m really keen to start, I always wanted to come back to this race. I’m a rider for Grand Tours, this is what I love most and do best, so I’m looking forward to it. I hope I will grow to be at my best in the decisive week. We’re here with a strong team, we have to use this, not only for GC. I have never asked a team that rides only for me.

“It’s a varied route. For the riders, followers and spectators it will be exciting to see what happens. The stage profiles are interesting, and I expect that after stage five there will already be kind of a hierarchy, so everyone will know his role in the rest of this Giro. At the team time trial on day one it will be important to do a good performance. Of course so we don’t lose too much time but also for the prestige. With guys like Monfort, Greipel, Hansen, Henderson and Bak we have some experienced riders for this assignment.

“I aim for a top ten place in the overall classification. This is correct according to the team and me. Considering my past I can’t say I will be happy with the twentieth place. I know what I’m capable of, I have worked hard to be ready for the Giro and I have faith for the next weeks. Because of circumstances I didn’t set remarkable results the previous races, but I was never tired, had a good altitude training camp and I had a good feeling after the fourth place in the time trial in the Tour de Romandie.”