Richie Porte
The man in form. The Australian has won three major stage races, Paris-Nice, Volta Catalunya and Giro di Trentino this year, is lighter than ever before in his career and has the explosive power to burn off Alberto Contador on the steepest climbs. But he has yet to improve on his seventh overall in the 2010 Giro in his first year as a pro. If he has truly found consistency, he will push Contador hard.
Fabio Aru
The 24-year-old Sardinian won a mountain stage in last year’s Giro and finished third overall, and added two stages and fifth in the Vuelta. That made him the darling of the fans, but this has been a tough year for him so far, with illness and the background of Astana’s licence issues, and while his climbing ability will stand him in good stead, he will be under pressure from the home media and could lose minutes on stage 14, a long time trial.
Alberto Contador
The big favourite, having won six Grand Tours, with the edge on his rivals in terms of all-round ability and the strongest team on paper to support him. There is one big unknown about his campaign: Saxo-Tinkoff lost their founder Bjarne Riis this spring when he fell out with sponsor Oleg Tinkov and it remains to be seen whether this has destabilised them.
Davide Formolo
Italy is desperate for stars and Formolo is the next up-and-coming Italian starlet after Aru. The baby-faced 22-year-old from the Veneto will benefit from having the 2012 winner Ryder Hesjedal alongside him in the Cannondale-Garmin team. Managed silver in Italian championships and seventh in Tour of Switzerland in debut season at 21 but this is a different dimension and the pressure will be immense.
Mike Matthews
The Australian has been one of the form riders of the season, coming within metres of winning Milan-San Remo and Amstel Gold. As a sprinter who can get over most moderately hard climbs he has already shown his hand on the hard roads that make up much of the Giro route, winning a stage and leading for six stages last year; he could begin to show as early as day three or four.
