"Win the Giro? That is not going to happen" - Lars van den Berg thinks team leader Thibaut Pinot will be better suited to hunting stage wins

Thibaut Pinot will ride the Giro d'Italia for the final time in his career soon although Groupama-FDJ teammate Lars van den Berg feels the Frenchman will be better suited to hunting stages rather than a push for the overall win.

“I use the first week to work for Thibaut, and then start the second and third weeks with reasonably fresh legs,” the Dutchman who will be taking part in his second-ever Giro d'Italia tells WielerFlits. “Then I hope to join the breakaway two or three times, and with a bit of luck to get a result,” he says of his own goals for the race.

As mentioned though, his teammate and Groupama-FDJ leader Thibaut Pinot this will be his final attempt at claiming the Maglia Rosa but with the likes of Primoz Roglic, Remco Evenepoel and Geraint Thomas all involved the chances of overall victory may be slim.

"He will try to ride the classification and if he loses some time at the beginning, it's not even a big drama. Then we hope that he can come back in the mountains with a breakaway," van den Berg explains. "Win the Giro? That is not going to happen, but riding a nice classification is his goal. Hopefully with a stage success.”