Giro d'Italia | Romain Bardet leads Picnic PostNL in the very last Grand Tour of his career

Team Picnic PostNL are currently in trouble, as they see very real chances of losing their World Tour license at the end of the year. Hence, the team enters the Giro d'Italia with some pressure to perform, with Romain Bardet in the lead in what will be the final Grand Tour of his career.

The Frenchman and Max Poole will both eye a GC result as the team looks to solidify the Briton as one of it's potential long-term leaders for the future in this sort of race. They recently finished 10th and 7th at the Tour of the Alps and have been building towards the Corsa Rosa together, in hopes of reaching their best form throughout the race.

“We can expect another challenging three-week route, starting from the first few stages in Albania before we head back across to Italy," team coach Matt Winston said in a press release. "We have a squad that has shown in recent races that they are building nicely, with morale and confidence within the group high. We’ll look to go for the sprint stages with Casper as our finisher, with the guys gelling together more and making final preparations throughout the recent week in Türkiye".

The team will have minor ambitions in the sprint stages with Casper van Uden as their leader, although the Dutchman has not yet managed to win this year - he comes in to fill in the gap left by the recovering Fabio Jakobsen. Bram Welten will be van Uden's leadout man, with Alex Edmonson also a crucial piece of the puzzle. Gijs Leemreize and Chris Hamilton will be stage hunters in the hilly days most likely, whilst Niklas Märkl completes the Dutch team's '8'.

"Like last year, we will aim to ride the best GC possible as a team with Romain as our finisher there, and it will be a special moment for him on his last Grand Tour, while Max will also head into the race to test himself over three-weeks. We will also look for our opportunities to fight for stage wins and top results on the hilly and mountainous terrain too. Throughout the whole race we need to work together well as a team, commit to each other and our goals every day, and by doing so I am confident we can come across the line in Rome and reflect on a good Giro campaign.”

Team Picnic PostNL for Giro d'Italia:
Romain Bardet
Alex Edmonson
Chris Hamilton
Gijs Leemreize
Niklas Märkl
Max Poole
Casper van Uden
Bram Welten