Second at the Giro d’Italia last year as a Team Sky rider, Rigoberto Uran has almost slipped under the radar this season as Michal Kwiatkowski takes the plaudits for his new team, Omega Pharma-QuickStep.

But Uran was signed from Team Sky in the winter with this race at the forefront of the Belgian super team’s thinking and he will be backed by one of the peloton’s strongest teams as he looks to go one better than last time out.

Having come third at the Tour of Oman, Uran has had to ride in support of Kwiatkowski since, but with Wout Poels, Pieter Serry and Michal Golas among his support team he will take centre stage at the Giro.

The Colombian’s climbing ability is undoubted, and he has looked at ease so far in the Tour de Romandie – his final pre-race preparation – where he has pulled hard on the front of the bunch and been able to give his legs a good workout.

For all their success, Omega Pharma-QuickStep have yet to make a mark on the overall classification of a Grand Tour but this could be the race which changes that.