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Which teams send the strongest line-ups to this year's Giro d'Italia? Which team is the youngest or has the most debutants? Let's take a look at a selection of interesting statistics.

Looking at the startlist quality per team, UAE Team Emirates stands far above the runner-up INEOS Grenadiers.

Table 1. Startlist quality

UAE Team Emirates has four riders from the top-100 of the PCS ranking at the start of the Giro with a total quality score of 118. João Almeida, sixth in the rankings, adds a quality score of 50 to UAE's total. INEOS' Richard Carapaz is the only other rider from the top-10 of the PCS ranking to start in this year's Giro.

Table 2. Line-up and position

CLIMBING strength

Having teammates around in the final kilometers of a stage can make a significant difference. In 2020, the Giro was won by Tao Geoghegan Hart, with teammate Rohan Dennis being an important part of the success. Since there are lots of mountains to conquer, riders that can survive the steep sections will count double on each squad.

In the following tables we have charted the number of top-50 results in stages with a profile score above 200 in the past two years per rider on the team. In mountain stages, the higher the result, the more likely a rider goes long along in the final of a stage.

When we compare UAE Team Emirates to INEOS Grenadiers, we see that Almeida will have two domestiques with a top-50 finishing percentage above 60%, against five domestiques for Carapaz.

Table 3. Top-50 results in stages with a profile score of more than 200 in the last two years per rider of UAE Team Emirates

Table 4. Top-50 results in stages with a profile score of more than 200 in the last two years per rider of INEOS Grenadiers

Fun facts

The youngest team is Drone Hopper - Androni Giocattoli with an average age of 26 years and 47 days. The oldest team is Israel - Premier Tech, with their riders being almost 32 years old on average.

Table 5. Average age

BORA - hansgrohe is the only team with a stage win in each of the past five editions. Can Wilco Kelderman continue this winning streak for Bora by taking his first win since 2015?

Table 6. Stage win form per team last 5 years

There are two teams with four debutants. Four teams bring no debutants to the first grand tour of the year.

Table 7. Most debutants on team

Astana Qazaqstan Team is the most experienced team, as their riders have participated in the Giro a total of 36 times before this edition. Vincenzo Nibali will start in his eleventh Giro. Domenico Pozzovivo, however, will start in his sixteenth Giro, which is just two participations behind all time record holder Wladimiro Panizza.

Table 8. Most experienced team