It's not unusual for many riders to be racing their first Giro d'Italia, especially considering all the young professionals on the pro-continental teams invited to a Grand Tour. It is unusual for veterans like Sylvain Chavanel and Tom Boonen to be riding their first ever Giro.
Chavanel rode for French teams for almost his entire professional career starting in 2000, so for him, his goals always intersected at the Tour de France. Now riding for the Swiss team Iam Racing, he has a chance to get some results in Italy during the month of May.
For Tom Boonen, he usually took time off in May after the grueling classics season before targeting the late May stage races as his run up to good form for the Tour de France. Unfortunately for him this year, he missed out on the entire classics season after a hard crash at Paris-Nice forced him to have surgery for several broken bones. Riding the Giro allows him to put in many racing miles to get into form for July. Since becoming a pro in 2002, he had never started the Italian Grand Tour.
Chavanel rode for French teams for almost his entire professional career starting in 2000, so for him, his goals always intersected at the Tour de France. Now riding for the Swiss team Iam Racing, he has a chance to get some results in Italy during the month of May.
For Tom Boonen, he usually took time off in May after the grueling classics season before targeting the late May stage races as his run up to good form for the Tour de France. Unfortunately for him this year, he missed out on the entire classics season after a hard crash at Paris-Nice forced him to have surgery for several broken bones. Riding the Giro allows him to put in many racing miles to get into form for July. Since becoming a pro in 2002, he had never started the Italian Grand Tour.
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