BATHURST professional cyclist Mark Renshaw will be making his first appearance at the Giro d'Italia in seven years after being named in Team Dimension Data's squad on Tuesday.
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Renshaw has been more accustomed to taking on the Tirreno-Adriatico when riding in Italy but this year gets the chance to take on the first of the season's grand tours.
The Bathurst rider has been named as the leadout man for team sprinters Giacomo Nizzolo and Ryan Gibbons, with his usual lead sprinter Mark Cavendish riding instead in the Tour of California.
Nizzolo will have high hopes for securing what's been an elusive stage victory after finding stage podiums in all six previous attempts at the Giro.
"It looks like this year, more than ever, that there are a lot of competitors particularly in the sprints but I'm ready to fight, and I feel ready to target those stage wins," Nizzolo said on the official Team Dimension Data website.
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"Racing in Italy for an Italian rider is always special so I'm really looking forward to racing on the Italian roads and seeing a lot of fans supporting us over the course of the three weeks."
Renshaw's previous Giro d'Italia campaign in came in arguably his greatest year of professional cycling, 2012.
He claimed three top six finishes in the Italian campaign, which came either side of his overall points classification podiums at the Tour of Turkey and the Ster ZLM Toer GP Jan van Heeswijk.
This will be Renshaw's fifth tilt at the Giro d'Italia after rides in 2005, 2009, 2011 and 2012.
The tour starts Saturday.
