Colombian GC contender Dani Martinez will compete in the Giro d'Italia as GC leader for Bora-Hansgrohe, while Emmanuel Buchmann, a former top-10 finisher in the Giro, expressed his displeasure at not being selected for the German team. Buchmann, who has finished in the top 10 in the Giro, expressed his displeasure at not being selected for the German team.

In a candid post on Instagram, Buchmann expressed his "disappointment and frustration" at not being selected.

Australian sprinter Sam Welsford, who was also scheduled to make his Giro d'Italia debut, was left out of the race squad for the Bora-Hansgrohe race starting May 4 in Turin.

Instead, the team's Giro d'Italia press release focused on the selection of fast man Danny Van Poppel, a former Vuelta a España stage winner who last won the 2023 Tour of Britain. [Sporting director Enrico Gasparotto said in a press release, "There are many sprint options this year. That's Danny's strength. He's in good shape and with Ryan [Mullen] leading out, he's in a very good position for these stages."

Welsford, who moved from DSM to Bora, has had a great start to the season: Welsford has won multiple stages in the Tour Down Under with his new team and recently finished 7th in the Scheldepri.

He and Van Poppel then took part in the Tour of Türkiye, where the Dutchman took two eighths and a second. In a team press release before the race, Van Poppel was expected to be among the top contenders in the Tour de Türkiye sprint, but for reasons unknown, he did not compete during the race.

On the GC front, Bora said he would give his all to Dani Martinez, who finished fifth in the 2021 Giro d'Italia.

Martinez defeated Remco Evenepoel (Sourdal-Quick Step) in both summit finishes at the Volta Ao Algarve this spring, finishing second overall behind the Belgian.

However, Colombia's final result of the 2024 season belonged to Tirreno Adriatico, who finished 34th and did not start on the final day.

"With Dani, I would like to aim for a top-five GC finish. He had a very good first part of the season and apart from a crash in Strade Bianche, his preparation for the Giro went well. He has trained very well in Colombia and we are optimistic that he will be in a good position in GC," Gasparotto said in the same press release.

The flip side of the coin in Beulah Hansgrohe's 2024 Giro d'Italia selection is that there is no place for Buchmann. Buchmann, a German national champion and stage race specialist, sent out a fiery message on Instagram in response to missing out on the event, where her best finish was seventh overall behind teammate Jai Hindley two years ago.

"Words cannot express how disappointed and frustrated I am that I was not nominated for this year's @giroditalia," Buchman wrote.

"I had planned for the Giro all year and even @borahansgrohe promised me a GC co-leader. Training went well and I'm in good shape👍

"I wanted to spend the last 3 weeks in Teide preparing for the last time, but 16 days before the start of the Giro I got the call that I would not be in the lineup."

"I was very disappointed," Buchmann said.

Even with one of the top German names missing, Bora Hansgrohe highlighted two of Buchmann's compatriots. All-rounder and former Paris-Nice 2 winner Max Schachmann is making his return to the race he won a stage in 2018, and talented young compatriot Florian Lipowitz, who just finished third in the Tour de Romandie, will make his Giro d'Italia debut on May 4.

Beulah Hansgrohe won the Giro d'Italia outright with Jai Hindley in 2022, and like in 2023, the Australian will compete in the Tour de France again this year with Primosz Roglic.

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