Barloworld gains last Giro spot

The organisers of the Giro d'Italia completed the list of the invited teams on Tuesday, adding the Barloworld team to the roster. RCS Sport released a list of 20 teams in January which was lacking four ProTour teams: Cofidis, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Française des Jeux and Fuji-Servetto.

The final list of invited teams is as follows: AG2R - La Mondiale (Fra), Astana (Kaz), BBox Bouygues Telecom (Fra), Caisse d'Epargne (Spa), Garmin-Slipstream (USA), Katusha (Rus), Lampre-N.G.C. (Ita), Liquigas (Ita), Team Milram (Ger), Quick Step (Bel), Rabobank (Ned), Saxo Bank - IT Factory (Den), Silence-Lotto (Bel) and Team Columbia (USA). Professional Continental: Acqua & Sapone - Caffè Mokambo (Ita), Barloworld (RSA), Cervélo Test Team (Swi), ISD (Ita), LPR Brakes Farnese Vini (Irl), Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli (Ven) and Xacobeo Galicia (Spa).

The Barloworld team was pleased to have been given the nod. "Team Barloworld clearly have impressed RCS Sport with their commitment to their team values namely integrity, commitment, teamwork and excellence," a press release stated.

The team announced it will line up for the May race with South African Robert Hunter and John-Lee Augustyn together with Columbian climber Mauricio Soler, with the final roster to be decided in coming weeks.