PREVIEW: Trio set to fight for Giro title

By Andreas Zellmer May 6, 2010, 13:10 GMT

   Amsterdam - Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan returns from a doping ban as co-favourite for the 93rd Giro d'Italia which starts on Saturday in the absence of Russian title holder Denis Menchov.

Menchov decided to give the Giro a miss this time around as he concentrates fully on the Tour de France in July.

Instead, Vinokourov, local hero Ivan Basso and Australian world champion Cadel Evans are tipped to battle out the overall top spot during the race over 21 stages until May 30 for 3,469.3 kilometres.

The 2010 Giro kicks off in Amsterdam with a time trial and spends two more days in the Netherlands before moving to Italy on Wednesday after a rest and travel day.

The race features five mountain arrivals, a team and mountain time trial and ends with a short time trial over 15km not at its traditional place of Milan, but in Verona.

The design of the course appears to suit Basso more than Vinokourov, who in the past excelled on long time trials.

The 2006 Vuelta winner Vinokourov, 36, was banned for two years after being caught doping at the 2007 Tour de France but has returned as captain of his Astana team in strong form.

Basso, who also had to serve a two-year ban in connection with the Spanish doping probe centring on doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, won the Giro in 2006 and came fifth last year.

The Liquigas team captain aims to keep victory in Italy which won the Giro 11 straight years 1997-2007 before Alberto Contador of Spain and Menchov ended the streak.

Evans, meanwhile, aims to be the first Australian to win the Giro and in fact one of the three big stage races, the other being the Tour and Vuelta.

The two-time Tour de France runner-up and 2009 Vuelta third-place rider Evans returns to the Giro from an eight-year absence as BMC captain.

Other contenders include former Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre of Spain, who won two Giro stages last year and came fourth overall.

While organizers hope for a clean race with the help of a record 520 doping tests, several big names are absent due to the issue.

The 2007 winner and 2009 runner-up Danilo di Luca is serving a doping ban while last year's third-place finisher Franco Pellizotti of Italy and the AG2R captain Tadej Valjavec of Slovenia are suspended over suspicious blood levels.