The German professional cyclist Emanuel Buchmann is tackling the Giro d’Italia next season and has no plans for the Tour de France. The 29-year-old Buchmann is one of three strong climbers from the top German team Bora-hansgrohe who are to fight for a podium finish in the Tour of Italy (6th to 29th May).
“The Giro profile smiled at me a bit. I still have an open account after last year,” said Buchmann. The mountain specialist had had good prospects in the previous year’s race until he had to retire after a fall on the 15th stage in sixth place overall.
In the upcoming edition, Buchmann shares the leadership role with Dutchman Wilco Kelderman and newcomer Jay Hindley from Australia. “It’s cool, we can make a difference as a team,” said Buchmann. Kelderman and Hindley were already on the podium at the 2020 Giro. Buchmann was fourth in the Tour of France in 2019.
“This year we have a big focus on the overall ranking of the Giro d’Italia. We’re not taking any sprinters there,” said sporting director Rolf Aldag: “We’re starting with a lot of quality. We have the chance to be aggressive and offensive to drive and to react to every situation in the mountains.” Tour stage winner Lennard Kämna is also part of the Giro team.
At the Tour de France (July 1st to 24th), Bora-hansgrohe relies primarily on stage victories. The Irish sprinter Sam Bennett should primarily take care of this, but the German drivers Nils Politt and Maximilian Schachmann should also have chances. For the overall classification, the team is planning with the Russian Alexander Wlassow.
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