Evans targets Giro win

The Tour of Italy, unusually, starts off in the Netherlands today with a host of big names in with a chance of winning, starting with Cadel Evans, Carlos Sastre and Ivan Basso.

The 197-strong peloton will open with an 8.4 kilometres individual time-trial in the streets of Amsterdam before contesting two other Dutch stages to Utrecht and Middelburg. They will then fly to Italy with a team time-trial set for May 12 between Savigliano and Coneo.

After that the Giro winds through the Italian countryside with several climbs in prospect before the closing individual time-trial in Verona on May 30.

Last year's winner Denis Menchov is not competing this time and neither is Lance Armstrong who opted instead to compete in the Tour of California.

But enough big names have signed up for the year's first major multi-stage race that often provides interesting pointers ahead of the Tour de France in July.

Australia's world champion Evans believes that this could be his best chance yet to capture and hold onto the leader's pink jersey especially since Tour de France winner Alberto Contador will not be standing in his way this time around.

Evans has been in fine form so far this year posting a podium finish at Tirreno-Adriatico and grabbing a gutsy win at La Fleche Wallonne last month.

He will be extra motivated by the fact that he is contesting his first Giro since 2002. That race was Evans's first career Grand Tour and one in which he spent a day in the pink jersey.

After finishing on the podiums of the 2007 and 2008 Tour de France and 2009 Tour of Spain, and falling just short in the 2006 Tour de France and 2007 Vuelta, Evans will be hungry to finally add a Grand Tour title to his collection.