The Tour of the Alps is always a good indicator of who to watch for in the Giro d'Italia, and Leonard Kemna added his name to the overall contenders for this year's Corsa Rosa with his victory on the summit of San Valentina on stage 3.

After Bora-Hansgrohe's impressive work in the front of the peloton in the first half, Kemna jumped out alone for the win. He defeated Jefferson Cepeda (EF Education Easy Post) and held off Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) to lead a small overall contending group.

Kemna won last year's Tour of the Alps stage 3 from a breakaway. This year he attacked the overall contenders and won. This is a big difference and justifies his Giro d'Italia GC ambitions.

"Winning the Tour de Alps is good motivation. Everyone in the team is really happy with this win and it will be a good morale booster," Kemna said.

Lemko Evenpole (Soudal-Quick Step) and Primoš Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) are the favorites for the final Maglia Rosa in Rome on May 28, but who will be involved in the podium battle, and perhaps from their mistakes and rivalry It will be interesting to see if they can profit.

Ineos Grenadiers duo Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart offer an interesting combination, as do Joao Almeida and Jay Vine of UAE Team Emirates. Jack Hague and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) are also an interesting combination. Kemna and Alexandre Vlasov will also lead Bora-Hansgrohe, looking to defend Jai Hindley's 2022 victory and ensure Bora-Hansgrohe's Grand Tour status.

"I know it will be hard to defend my Giro title, but my goal is to be on the podium.

"I'm not going to say I want to finish in the top three or top five, but I want to be there. I want to compete and show myself," he said with growing confidence.

The 26-year-old German returned from a sabbatical from the stresses of professional racing in 2022 to focus on his quest for stage wins, and he proved his talent by winning stage 3 of the 2022 Tour de Alps and stage 4 of the Giro d'Italia on Mount Etna. He also attacked on three stages of the Tour de France, finishing fourth at La Super Planche des Belle Filles and eighth at Mende.

Illness ended his Tour prematurely and his season, but he recovered and shifted his focus to a GC role with Bora-Hansgrohe in 2023. Kemna finished an unnoticed but impressive fourth overall in Tirreno-Adriatico and has been training for the Giro d'Italia ever since.

"I'm really happy with this season, although there is definitely still room for improvement," she said. But I also feel that I am getting better month by month. So far the season has gone really well and I want to keep it that way."

Kemna was a prodigy in Germany, but the expectations were heavy on his shoulders. He wisely spent most of 2021 away from racing, only to rediscover his love of the sport and the suffering it brings.

"Last year was fun, but I had to live with the ups and downs. This year I will try to be really consistent and prepare well for the Giro."

"Going into a race as a leader is different than going for GC and trying to escape. It's all about consistency, and mentally it's a little different. It will be the same in the Giro d'Italia, but consistency is the key to everything."