The Giro d’Italia U23 kicks off today in Imola with a 132 km long stage. Vasilis Anastopoulos, performance manager and DS for the race, talks about the goals for the upcoming week: “We have brought a team that can be protagonist in every single stage and in GC. We want to win a stage and finish up there in the overall classification.”

The riders will face eight stages within the following seven days, therefore recovery will be a very important factor: “ In order to be competitive in this race you have to be consistent and chase down every single chance that may appear. We need to race smart, save as much energy as possible and attack at the right moment.”

The Giro d’Italia U23 was marked in our calendar as one of the most important stage-races of season and a lot of preparation and work has been done going into the race. “ I have the feeling that all the riders are close to their best possible physical condition. This group of riders has proven that they can work really well together and can help each other when needed. But first of all they need to enjoy being part of such a big and historic race!”

Good luck to everyone today!