Colombian GC contender Dani Martínez has been confirmed as the GC leader for the Giro d’Italia for Bora-Hansgrohe, while former top ten Giro finisher Emanuel Buchmann has publicly expressed his displeasure at being left off the selection for the German squad.
In an outspoken post on Instagram, Buchmann spoke of his “disappointment and frustration” at his failure to be included in the line-up.
There was also disappointment for Australian sprinter Sam Welsford, set to make his Giro d’Italia debut but finally left out of the Bora-Hansgrohe list for the race, which starts May 4 in Turin.
Instead, the team’s Giro d'Italia press release focussed on their selection of fast man Danny Van Poppel, a former Vuelta a España stage winner whose last victory dates from the 2023 Tour of Britain.
"We see many sprint options this year - some are not easy with a climb in the finale,” sports director Enrico Gasparotto said in a press release. “That's one of Danny's strengths. He's in good shape and with Ryan [Mullen] as a lead-out, we're in a very good position for these stages."
After transferring to Bora at the start of the year from DSM: Welsford had a stunning start to the season, winning multiple stages of the Tour Down Under for his new team and recently took seventh in the Scheldeprijs.
Both he and Van Poppel were subsequently present at the Tour of Türkiye where the Dutchman claimed two eighth places and a second before registering a DNS on stage 6. In a pre-race team press release, it was implied the Australian was expected to play a top role in the Türkiye sprints, but for unknown reasons, he was not in contention during the race itself.
On the GC front, Bora said they would be putting their full focus on Dani Martinez, who placed fifth in the Giro d’Italia in 2021, his best result in a Grand Tour to date.
Martínez beat Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) in both summit finishes featuring in the Volta ao Algarve early this spring, finishing second overall behind the Belgian.
However, the Colombian's last results in the 2024 season date from an unremarkable Tirreno-Adriatico, where he was running 34th before not starting on the final day.
"We want to achieve a top 5 in the GC with Dani. He performed very well at the start of the season and apart from the crash at Strade Bianche, his build-up to the Giro has been solid. He trained very well in Colombia, and we are optimistic that he will be in the mix for a good place in the GC,” Gasparotto said in the same press release.
The flip side of the coin in Bora-Hansgrohe's 2024 Giro d'Italia selection is no place for Buchmann. The German National Champion and stage race specialist delivered a fiery series of messages on Instagram in reaction to his missing out on an event where his best placing was seventh overall behind teammate Jai Hindley two years back.
“I cannot describe my disappointment and frustration be not nominated for the @giroditalia this year,” Buchmann wrote.
“All year was planned for the Giro and even @borahansgrohe promised me the Co-Leadership for the GC. The training went well, the shape is good👍
“The last three weeks at the Teide I wanted to do the last preparation, but 16 days before the start of the Giro I got the call that I won't be in the lineup.”
If one top German name is missing from their selection, Bora-Hansgrohe have found a spot for two of Buchmann's compatriots. Allrounder and former double Paris-Nice winner Max Schachmann makes his return to a race where he won a stage in 2018, while talented young compatriot Florian Lipowitz, recently third in the Tour de Romandie, is set for his Giro d’Italia debut on May 4.
Bora-Hansgrohe were the outright winners of the Giro d’Italia in 2022 with Jai Hindley, but as in 2023, the Australian will once again be riding the Tour de France this year alongside Primož Roglič.
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