The 2018 Giro d’Italia rolls through picturesque Italian countryside (Getty Images)

The clock is counting down to the start of the 102nd Giro d’Italia and the Grande Partenza taking place in Bologna on Saturday evening.

Throughout the first Grand Tour of 2019, VelonLive will bring cycling fans exclusive rider performance data in addition to in-depth analysis and behind-the-scenes video content.

The first stage is a hilly 8km individual time trial finishing at the Basilica della Madonna di San Luca and could see GC contenders such as Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) and Primož Roglič (Team Jumbo-Visma) set down early markers.

The likes of Vincenzo Nibali (Team Bahrain Merida), Simon Yates (Mitchelton-SCOTT) and Miguel Ángel López (Astana Pro Team) will also be in contention for the coveted Maglia Rosa, whilst current champion Chris Froome (Team INEOS) does not return to defend his title in Italy.

There are two further individual time trials on the route, a demanding hilly 34km ITT up to San Marino on Stage 9, and a 17km test concluding in Verona’s Roman amphitheatre as the Giro crescendos on Stage 21 on Sunday 2nd June.

In addition to the total 59.8km of time trialling the 2019 Corsa Rosa’s 3,578km route also comprises six mountain-top finales and 40 categorised climbs.

The Giro d’Italia teams presentation in 2018 (Getty Images)

The riders will explore Tuscany, head south to Lazio, Abruzzo and Puglia and then travel north via San Marino and on to Piemonte. After tackling the Italian Alps the peloton faces some stiff challenges in the Dolomites in a gruelling final week.

Opportunities for the sprinters will mainly come in the first half of the race, with Stages 2, 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12 and 18 classed as flat or flat finishes.

Keep an eye out for stars such as Elia Viviani (Deceuninck - QuickStep), Pascal Ackermann (BORA-hansgrohe), Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ), Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal) and Giacomo Nizzolo (Dimension Data) battling for sprint victories.

The start list also includes Davide Formolo (BORA-hansgrohe), Ben O'Connor (Dimension Data), Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-SCOTT), Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), Michael Valgren (Dimension Data) and Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates), who will all be in the mix for stage wins.

Keep an eye out too for Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), who intends to ride all three Grand Tours this season. The brilliant Belgian famously won the iconic Stelvio stage in 2012 and is hungry to add another Giro stage to his palmarès.

De Gendt is sure to regularly feature in breakaways, along with riders from the Italian ProContinental teams Bardiani – CSF, Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec and Nippo Vini Fantini Faizanè looking for their moment in the spotlight.

Provisional start list (last update Tuesday 7th May, 11am CET).

UCI WorldTour teams

AG2R La Mondiale: François Bidard (Fra), Nico Denz (Ger), Hubert Dupont (Fra), Tony Gallopin (Fra), Ben Gastauer (Lux), Nans Peters (Fra), Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra), Larry Warbasse (US).

Astana Pro Team: Pello Bilbao (Spa), Manuele Boaro (Ita), Dario Cataldo (Ita), Jan Hirt (Cze), Ion Izagirre (Spa), Miguel Ángel López (Col), Davide Villella (Ita), Andrey Zeits (Kaz).

Bahrain Merida: Valerio Agnoli (Ita), Grega Bole (Slo), Damiano Caruso (Ita), Andrea Garosio (Ita), Kristijan Koren (Slo), Antonio Nibali (Ita), Vincenzo Nibali (Ita), Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita).

BORA - hansgrohe: Pascal Ackermann (Ger), Cesare Benedetti (Ita), Davide Formolo (Ita), Rafal Majka (Pol), Jay McCarthy (Aus), Pawel Poljanski (Pol), Michael Schwarzmann (Ger), Rudiger Selig (Ger).

Tension, excitement, passion, magic - it's all here, as a new edition of the @giroditalia is about to start. We give you Deceuninck - Quick-Step's squad for the season's first Grand Tour: https://t.co/8PJz9fIXPY
Video: @lapedalecc pic.twitter.com/RsHpNqxl1q
— Deceuninck-QuickStep (@deceuninck_qst) May 7, 2019

CCC Team: Amaro Antunes (Por), Josef Cerny (Cze), Víctor de la Parte (Spa), Kamil Gradek (Pol), Jakub Mareczko (Ita), Lukasz Owsian (Pol), Laurens ten Dam (Hol), Francisco Ventoso (Spa).

Deceuninck - Quick Step: Eros Capecchi (Ita), Bob Jungels (Lux), James Knox (GB), Fabio Sabatini (Ita), Florian Sénéchal (Fra), Pieter Serry (Bel), Elia Viviani (Ita), Mikkel Frølich Honoré (Den).

EF Education First: Sean Bennett (US), Matti Breschel (Den), Nathan Brown (US), Jonathan Caicedo (Ecu), Hugh Carthy (GB), Joe Dombrowski (US), Tanel Kangert (Est), Sacha Modolo (Ita).

Groupama-FDJ: Arnaud Démare (Fra), Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita), Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu), Olivier Le Gac (Fra), Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe), Valentin Madouas (Fra), Miles Scotson (Aus), Ramon Sinkeldam (Hol).

Lotto Soudal: Victor Campenaerts (Bel), Jasper De Buyst (Bel), Thomas De Gendt (Bel), Caleb Ewan (Aus), Adam Hansen (Aus), Roger Kluge (Ger), Tosh Van der Sande (Bel), Jelle Vanendert (Bel).

Mitchelton-Scott: Jack Bauer (NZ), Brent Bookwalter (US), Esteban Chaves (Col), Luke Durbridge (Aus), Lucas Hamilton (Aus), Christopher Juul-Jensen (Den), Mikel Nieve (Spa), Simon Yates (GB).

Movistar Team: Andrey Amador (Crc), Richard Carapaz (Ecu), Héctor Carretero (Spa), Mikel Landa (Spa), Lluís Mas (Spa), Antonio Pedrero (Spa), José Joaquín Rojas (Spa), Jasha Sütterlin (Ger).

Team Dimension Data: Scott Davies (GB), Enrico Gasparotto (Ita), Amanuel Gebreigzabhier (Eri), Ryan Gibbons (SA), Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita), Ben O'Connor (Aus), Mark Renshaw (Aus), Danilo Wyss (Swi).

TEAM NEWS: @taogeoghegan & @PavelSivakov will lead @TeamINEOS at the @giroditalia! Here's our full lineup for the first Grand Tour of the season 🇮🇹@EddieDunbar @taogeoghegan @5_henao @ChristianKnees @NarvaezJho @SalvatorePuccio @PavelSivakov @ivansosacuervo
— Team INEOS (@TeamINEOS) May 7, 2019

Team INEOS: Eddie Dunbar (Ire), Tao Geoghegan Hart (GB), Sebastian Henao (Col), Christian Knees (Ger), Jhonatan Narváez (Col), Salvatore Puccio (Ita), Pavel Sivakov (Rus), Iván Ramiro Sosa (Col).

Team Jumbo-Visma: Koen Bouwman (Hol), Laurens De Plus (Bel), Sepp Kuss (US), Tom Leezer (Hol), Paul Martens (Ger), Primoz Roglic (Slo), Antwan Tolhoek (Hol), Jos van Emden (Hol).

Team Katusha - Alpecin: Enrico Battaglin (Ita), Jenthe Biermans (Bel), Marco Haller (Aut), Reto Hollenstein (Swi), Vyacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus), Daniel Navarro (Spa), Dmitry Strakhov (Rus), Ilnur Zakarin (Rus).

Team Sunweb: Jan Bakelants (Bel), Tom Dumoulin (Hol), Chad Haga (US), Chris Hamilton (Aus), Jai Hindley (Aus), Sam Oomen (Hol), Robert Power (Aus), Louis Vervaeke (Bel).

Trek-Segafredo: Gianluca Brambilla (Ita), Giulio Ciccone (Ita), Will Clarke (Aus), Nicola Conci (Ita), Michael Gogl (Aut), Markel Irizar (Spa), Bauke Mollema (Hol), Matteo Moschetti (Ita).

UAE Team Emirates: Tom Bohli (Swi), Simone Consonni (Ita), Valerio Conti (Ita), Fernando Gaviria (Col), Marco Marcato (Ita), Juan Sebastián Molano (Col), Jan Polanc (Slo), Diego Ulissi (Ita).

ProContinental teams

Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec: Manuel Belletti (Ita), Mattia Cattaneo (Ita), Miguel Flórez (Col), Marco Frapporti (Ita), Francesco Gavazzi (Ita), Fausto Masnada (Ita), Matteo Montaguti (Ita), Andrea Vendrame (Ita).

Bardiani-CSF: Enrico Barbin (Ita), Giovanni Carboni (Ita), Luca Covili (Ita), Mirco Maestri (Ita), Umberto Orsini (Ita), Lorenzo Rota (Ita), Manuel Senni (Ita), Paolo Simion (Ita).

Israel Cycling Academy: Guillaume Boivin (Can), Davide Cimolai (Ita), Conor Dunne (Irl), Awet Gebremedhin (Swe), Krists Neilands (Lat), Guy Niv (Isr), Rubén Plaza (Spa), Kristian Sbaragli (Ita).

Nippo Vini Fantini Faizane: Nicola Bagioli (Ita), Marco Canola (Ita), Damiano Cima (Ita), Sho Hatsuyama (Jap), Juan José Lobato (Spa), Giovanni Lonardi (Ita), Hiroki Nishimura (Jap), Ivan Santaromita (Ita).