“Last year I came to discover the race... this year I’m here to win” - Paul Magnier returns to the Giro d'Italia bullish about sprint hopes

Paul Magnier arrived at last year’s Giro d’Italia as one of cycling’s most exciting young prospects. Twelve months later, the Frenchman returns with a team built around him, realistic expectations of stage victories and genuine belief that he can challenge the biggest sprint names in the race immediately.

“Last year, I came here mainly to discover the race,” Magnier said in conversation with Cycling Pro Net. “This year, I’m really here to try and win.”

That shift in mindset says plenty about how quickly Magnier’s status has changed inside Soudal - Quick-Step and within the wider peloton. The 22-year-old also arrives in Bulgaria sounding confident about the shape he brings into the race after a carefully managed build-up focused specifically around the Giro.

“Yeah, I feel good and in shape,” Magnier explained. “I had a really good altitude camp and we’ve seen that the roads here in Bulgaria should suit the racing quite well. So I’m really motivated and the legs are there, so we’ll see how things go.”

The 2025 Giro was effectively Magnier’s first experience of Grand Tour racing. Soudal - Quick-Step approached the race cautiously with the young Frenchman, allowing him to learn the rhythm and pressure of a three-week race while gradually introducing him to sprint opportunities against more established Grand Tour specialists.

Even then, the talent was obvious. Magnier consistently remained competitive in fast finishes and looked increasingly comfortable as the race progressed before eventually leaving before the final week.

Now, however, both the rider and the team are approaching the Giro very differently. “We have a team built around me to try and win,” Magnier explained.

That is a major statement from a rider still only 22 years old, particularly inside a team with Soudal - Quick-Step’s sprinting history. The Belgian squad has built Grand Tours around riders such as Mark Cavendish, Fabio Jakobsen and Tim Merlier in recent years. Now the Giro sprint project revolves around Magnier.

Part of that growing confidence comes from how deliberately Magnier targeted this race. Unlike several rivals who carried their Classics campaigns deep into April, the Frenchman intentionally stepped away earlier in order to focus fully on Giro preparation and altitude training.

“It’s true that I took a break quite early,” Magnier explained. “I didn’t continue all the way to Paris-Roubaix. I deliberately stopped a bit earlier so I could really prepare for the Giro with an altitude camp. So I think it was very good preparation, but we’ll see. We have three weeks to prove it.”

That approach underlines another important part of Magnier’s development. While he remains one of the fastest sprinters in the race, he is increasingly viewed as far more than just a pure bunch finisher.

The Frenchman’s combination of sprint speed, Classics resilience and ability to survive harder terrain has made him one of the most versatile fast men in the peloton and one of the riders many teams will fear on the Giro’s more selective sprint days.

The opening stages in Bulgaria are viewed inside the peloton as particularly important for the sprinters and Magnier made clear that he has studied them closely. “There are a lot of opportunities,” he said. “The first opportunities in Bulgaria are really interesting.”

The opening stage in Nessebar is expected to end in a bunch sprint, potentially creating a rare opportunity for a pure sprinter to claim the Maglia Rosa on day one. Magnier is one of several riders targeting that scenario alongside rivals such as Jonathan Milan, Dylan Groenewegen and Arnaud De Lie.

Magnier also suggested the opening block of racing is where much of his focus currently sits. “I really looked closely at the first three stages already,” he explained. “I think the second one should still be quite hard. But yeah, I’m focused on the first three stages for now. To be honest, I haven’t looked too much beyond that yet, but I’ve been told there should normally be five or six sprint opportunities.”

The rider arriving at this Giro also carries far more expectation than the one who debuted here last year. After leaving the 2025 Giro, Magnier’s results exploded across the remainder of the season as he established himself as one of the sport’s fastest rising stars. Multiple reports around this year’s race have pointed out that only Tadej Pogacar won more races than Magnier during the 2025 season.

That rise has completely changed how this Giro is being framed around him. The Frenchman no longer sounds like a rider hoping simply to survive and learn from the experience. “The goal is to go all the way to the finish,” he said.

And after spending 2025 discovering the Giro d’Italia, Magnier now arrives in Bulgaria believing he can leave it with much more than experience.