Newly relegated from the WorldTour, Israel-Premier Tech are nevertheless heading to the Giro d'Italia, in addition to their recent Tour de France invite, as race organiser RCS announced the wildcard invitations for their slate of spring races.
The Israeli squad, which has taken part in the race each year since the historic Grande Partenza in Jerusalem in 2018, leads the list of four wildcards for this May's race.
Absent, however, are both Lotto-Dstny and TotalEnergies. The teams qualify for automatic invites to all three Grand Tours this year as the top two teams in the ProTeam rankings, though both have declined to take on the Giro.
Joining Israel-Premier Tech and the 18 current WorldTour teams at the start in Abruzzo will be a trio of Italian ProTeams. The Alberto Contador- and Ivan Basso-led Eolo-Kometa will race for the third year in succession. Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè, ever-present at the race having only missed the 2009 edition since the 1990s, are also invited.
Rounding out the list is Team Corratec, who have stepped up to ProTeam status this season and have been linked with the signature of Nairo Quintana in recent days.
There are no surprises in the list of four invitees, then, with all three Italian ProTeams set to race after Gianni Savio's Androni Giocattoli squad morphed into Colombian Continental squad GW Shimano-Sidermec due to a lack of sponsorship.
Newcomers Corratec aside, Israel-Premier Tech, Eolo-Kometa, and Green Project Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè have all enjoyed their share of success at the Giro. Israel-Premier Tech can count two stage wins (Alex Dowsett in Vieste in 2020 and Dan Martin on Sega di Ala in 2021) on their palmarès, with Martin also finishing 10th two years ago.
2021 also saw Lorenzo Fortunato claim a famous win atop Monte Zoncolan for Eolo-Kometa. The Reverberi brothers' Bardiani squad, meanwhile, have won 21 stages stretching all the way back to Patrizio Gambirasio's win at Borgo Valsugana in 1988. Their most recent stage win came courtesy of Giulio Ciccone at Sestola in 2016.
Team lineups have, of course, not been confirmed, though Italian sprint star Giacomo Nizzolo is likely to feature for Israel-Premier Tech and will look to add to his single stage win at the race, taken in 2021.
Eolo-Kometa should feature Fortunato and veteran Francesco Gavazzi, while newcomer Mattia Bais was a breakaway staple at last year's race. Green Project Bardiani CSF-Faizanè don't boast big names but will likely target breakaways with the likes of Davide Gabburo and Alessandro Tonelli. Corratec's stand-out names include 2016 Vuelta a España stage winner Valerio Conti and former BikeExchange man Alexander Konychev.
The 2023 Giro d'Italia will kick off on May 6 in Fossacesia and take in stages to Crans Montana, Monte Bondone, and Tre Cime di Lavaredo – as well as three time trials – on the way to Rome on May 28.
In addition to the announcement of the four Giro wildcards, RCS also handed down the list of teams set to compete at its March races, Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, and Milan-San Remo.
Israel-Premier Tech, Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè, and Eolo-Kometa receive invites to all three races, while Corratec will only be present at Tirreno-Adriatico.
Lotto-Dstny, TotalEnergies will be present at both one-day races alongside new Swiss ProTeams Q36.5 and Tudor, while of these four only Lotto-Dstny will be giving Tirreno-Adriatico a miss.
RCS stated that wildcard invitations for Strade Bianche Women, Milano-Torino, the Giro di Sicilia, Gran Piemonte and Il Lombardia will be announced later in the year.
Invitations for RCS Sport's spring races
Strade Bianche: Eolo-Kometa, Green Project Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè, Israel-Premier Tech, Lotto-Dstny, Q36.5, TotalEnergies, Tudor
Tirreno-Adriatico: Eolo-Kometa, Green Project Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè, Israel-Premier Tech, Q36.5, Team Corratec, TotalEnergies, Tudor
Milan-San Remo: Eolo-Kometa, Green Project Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè, Israel-Premier Tech, Lotto-Dstny, Q36.5, TotalEnergies, Tudor
Giro d'Italia: Eolo-Kometa, Green Project Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè, Israel-Premier Tech, Team Corratec
