Emanuel Buchmann will not race the Giro d’Italia © BORA-hansgrohe/Instagram
Tension at BORA-hansgrohe after the announcement of the eight players called up for the Giro d’Italia. The German team has confirmed the names of the riders who will represent it in the pink race, confirming Daniel Martínez as sole leader for the general and Danny van Poppel as point man for sprints. Emanuel Buchmann sparked controversy shortly after the announcement: in a post published on Instagram the German directly accused his team for the exclusion from the Giro d’Italia.
“They promised me, my form was good”
These are Buchmann’s words: “I can’t describe my disappointment and frustration at not being at the start of this year’s Giro d’Italia. The whole season had been planned for me to race the Giro and my team had promised me the role of co-captain for the general classification. Training went well and form was good. I went on a retreat on Teide to complete my preparation, but sixteen days before I was told that I would not be called up.”
At the moment BORA-hansgrohe has not released any statements on the matter, but it seems clear that relations between the rider and his team, together for ten seasons, are at an all-time low.
Martínez aims for the podium, Lipowitz suggestion
The hierarchies of Ralph Denk’s team are clear: Daniel Martínez will be the point man to bring the German team back to the final podium of the pink race two years after Jai Hindley’s triumph. However, Lennard Kämna will not be there, having suffered a serious accident in training at the beginning of April and is still struggling with a long recovery. Another rider to watch in the mountain stages will be Florian Lipowitz; the class of 2000 is ready to play a leading role after the surprising podium achieved at the Tour de Romandie ahead of much more highly rated riders such as Juan Ayuso, Enric Mas and David Gaudu.
Welsford out: room for Van Poppel to sprint
Another change concerns the exclusion of Sam Welsford: at the Tour of Türkiye the Australian was never a protagonist, unlike Danny van Poppel who will be the only sprinter at the start. For the Dutchman, this is the second career participation in the pink race after the one in 2018 in which he achieved a 2nd place as his best result.
In the German selection there will also be a discovery Max Schachmann, who can aim for a stage victory after the good performances at the Tour of the Basque Country. They complete the selection Jonas Koch, Patrick Gamper, Ryan Mullen and Italian Giovanni Aleottiwhich has its seasonal objective in the Giro d’Italia.
