Giro d’Italia 2022 team guide: Start list, star riders as Ineos Grenadiers and Mark Cavendish go for glory

Forget the route – a race is only as good as its riders and its teams. So with the 105th edition of the Giro d’Italia fast approaching, let’s take a closer look at those 22 teams and some of those stand-out 176 riders. Pink jersey and a sprinters’ guide will follow this week ahead of the grande partenza in Budapest on Friday 6th May.

But for now, the focus falls on the teams. Here is a brief overview of all the squads taking part – including their star assets, best Giro moments, and the vital question of which traditional Italian dish they most resemble… Ad/> AG2R-CITROEN Giro d'ItaliaExclusive: 'It scares me' — Cavendish on his rivalry fears with team-mate Jakobsen13 HOURS AGO Lilian Calmejane Jaakko Hanninen Felix Gall Mikael Cherel Nans Peters Nicolas Prodhomme Andrea Vendrame Lawrence Naesen Star Rider: Gosh. A tough one.

Lilian Calmejane? Andrea Vendrame? Nans Peters? Who knows?! Memorable Moment: Take your pick from Vendrame’s stage win last year or Peters’ solo exploits in 2019. Racing Style: Sending riders up the road and hoping for the best. Giro goals: Sending riders up the road and hoping for the best.

If they were an Italian food… Spaghetti cacio e pepe. Sounds boring on paper but tastes delicious with the sharpness of the pepper offsetting the oozy cheesiness. Giro d’Italia 2022: Who’s riding? How can I watch it on TV? Giro d’Italia: 7 key stages in the battle for pink ASTANA QAZAQSTAN Vincenzo Nibali Miguel Angel Lopez David de la Cruz Valerio Conti Fabio Felline Joe Dombrowski Harold Tejada Vadim Pronskiy Star Rider: Vincenzo Nibali Memorable Moment: The late Michele Scarponi scaling the Col delle’Agnello in pole position before paving the way for teammate Nibali’s unlikely glory in 2016.