Eddie Dunbar included in strong Axeon Hagens Berman team for Baby Giro

The Baby Giro (Giro Ciclistico D’Italia) returns to the calendar this weekend and amongst those lining up are U23 Tour of Flanders winner Eddie Dunbar. The race starts on Friday 9 June and runs until 15 June.

The Irish rider lines up as part of a strong Axeon Hagens Berman team which also includes Adrien Costa, Logan Owen, Neilson Powless and Michael Rice. Dunbar took the biggest victory of his career when he soloed to the win at Flanders in April and it capped off a very impressive early season. He also finished 2nd overall at Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux, 5th at both Volta ao Alentejo and Clasica de Arrabida. Following on from Flanders, the 20 year-old took an impressive third at Trofeo Città di San Vendemiano.

Powless has also taken some impressive results this season, winning a stage of Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux and also the one-day GP Palio del Recioto whilst Owen won a stage of Volta ao Alentejo back in February.

The Axeon Hagens Berman team will face a strong challenge in the week-long race which features a mix of UCI Continental teams, national teams and Italian teams. Amongst the other teams who can be expected to challenge for the win are Zalf Euromobil Désirée Fior, Team Wiggins, Mitchelton Scott, Lotto – Soudal U23, BMC Development Team and SEG Racing Academy.

The BMC Development Team includes Jasper Philipsen who won Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux in April and Pascal Eenkhoorn who won the youth category in both the Tour de Normandie and Rhône-Alpes Isère Tour.

The Australian Mitchelton Scott team has a particularly impressive line-up which includes Jai Hindley who finished 2nd overall at the Herald Sun Tour and Michael Storer who won a stage of An Post Rás last month.

Another Irish rider is also set to start as Michael O’Loughlin lines up for Team Wiggins. O’Loughlin also impressed at An Post Rás recently as he finished 8th overall and won the youth category. James Knox also starts for Team Wiggins and has had a great season to-date. The Briton has finished 5th overall at Ronde de l’Isard, 8th at the Tour of Croatia and was 2nd at U23 Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

Fabio Jakobsen of SEG Racing Academy is another rider to look out for. The Dutchman has taken four wins this season – Ronde van Noord-Holland, U23 Eschborn-Frankfurt, a stage of the Tour de Normandie and Ster van Zwolle.

The race starts with a 132-kilometre stage which starts and finishes in Imola and includes two Cat-3 climbs en route. Stage 3 in Forli could see the first big-shake up with the riders facing five categorises climbs including the Cat-1 Monte Trebbio and the final climb just fifteen kilometres from the finish.

Day five is a split stage which could shake up the GC. In the morning, the riders will race 87 kilometres from Senigalla to Osimo which finishes on a short climb.

In the afternoon, the riders take on a 14-kilometre time-trial at Campocavallo which includes a climb. It’s a stage that could suit both Powless and Dunbar after the pair completed a one-two in the 10-kilometre time-trial at Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux.

The penultimate stage once again includes a short climb to the finish at Casalicontrada and the final stage of the race is also the queen stage. On the 148.9-kilometre stage which starts in Francavilla al Mare, the parcours includes the Cat-2 climb of Svolte di Popoli and a summit finish to Campo Imperatore which stands at 2,135 metres.

Whoever does win the race overall will add to their name to the list of winners which includes Francesco Moser, Giovanni Battaglin, Gianbattista Baronchelli, Dimitri Konyshev, Gilberto Simoni, Marco Pantani and Danilo di Luca amongst others.

The race is being run for the first time since 2012. On that occasion, American rider Joe Dombrowski took the win, racing in the colours of Bontrager-Livestrong, a previous name of the Axeon Hagens Berman team.

Stages
Stage 1 132.2 kilometres Imola – Imola
Stage 2 145.8 kilometres Castellarano – Abbazia Di San Valentino –
Stage 3 140.5 kilometres Bagnara Di Romagna – Forli
Stage 4 155.5 kilometres Forli – Gabbice Mare
Stage 5a 87.2 kilometres Senegallia – Osimo
Stage 5b 14 kilometres Campocavallo – Campocavallo
Stage 6 132.2 kilometres Francavilla al Mare – Casalincontrada
Stage 7 148.9 kilometres Francavilla al Mare – Campo Imperatore