Astana Pro Team top cyclist Vincenzo Nibali will skip this season’s first Grand Tour Giro d’Italia race on May 9 to focus on preparing for the Tour de France, which begins July 4.
Nibali is focused on winning this year’s Tour de France and repeating his success from the previous year. Nibali became the sixth man in history and the first Italian since 1998 to win all three of cycling’s major tours when he secured a victory in last year’s Tour de France.
Nibali wore the overall leader’s yellow jersey for all but two stages of the race after its first day. He also won four of the race’s 21 total stages, the most for a tour winner since the U.S.’s Lance Armstrong won five in 2004.
The full list of the UCI ProTeam Astana for the Giro d’Italia race is as follows: Andrey Zeits of Kazakhstan, Fabio Aru, Italy, Diego Rosa, Italy, Paolo Tiralongo, Italy, Tanel Kangert, Estonia, Mikel Landa, Spain, Dario Cataldo, Italy, David Malacarne, Italy and Leon Luis Sanchez, Spain.
