Bak looks to his own chances in Giro d'Italia after helping Cavendish

Lars Bak's primary mission at the Giro d'Italia will be to help Mark Cavendish win sprints, but the HTC-Highroad rider will also be looking out for his own chances in an escape group.

"If the chance presents itself, I would like to get in a break group and ride for a stage win, but the first week to ten days it is 100 per cent for Mark Cavendish, and I'm fine with that,” he told feltet.dk.

"The team's ambition is that we will come and be ready for the first week, because we want to win the team time trial the first day and win as many stages as possible with Mark Cavendish."

The 31-year-old, in his second season with the US-based team, says HTC is well set up for the opening stage. “We come to the team time trial with a strong team and we're good at it, so I think we have a good chance to win it,” he said.

Plus, he is the team's secret weapon. “The last two times I've ridden a team time trial in a Grand Tour, we've won, so why not? Third time's a charm.”

Any stage wins for the team would likely come before the climbing starts, though. "If you look at the profile, it's insanely hard. I heard David Millar said that it is pure massacre.I looked at the route profiles, and as I see it, it's 11 regular mountain stages, so I think if we are to pick up some stage wins, it should probably be within the first week so that is where we put our energy."