Richard Carapaz and Tom Pidcock look set to lead the Ineos Grenadiers team into the 2022 Giro d'Italia, according to one of British team's directeurs.
Matteo Tosatto has also set out other riders who are currently in the team's plans for the race, including the returning Elia Viviani. The Italian sprinter would be going for stage wins at the race, with Ben Swift for lead-out.
Tosatto also told Italian media outlet Bici Pro that Giro 2020 winner Tao Geoghegan Hart would return to the race. Added to the five riders Tosatto has named, Richie Porte has also counted himself squarely into contention for the Giro in 2022, which will be his final season.
That would leave just two places remaining to be filled, with Italian domestic Salvatore Puccio - who has ridden eight Giros in his 10 seasons to date with the team - is almost certain to take one of those slots.
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While there was no mention of Ireland's Eddie Dunbar in the published interview with Tosatto, the Corkman rode very well in support of Carapaz at Tour de Suisse this year; a factor that may work in his favour when it comes to selecting the final Giro team.
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If Dunbar does not ride the Giro, that would leave the Tour de France and La Vuelta as two other possibilities. And while the Tour selection will be very competitive, Dunbar is now aged 25 years and the coming season could be a big one for him considering the climbing prowess he show in Switzerland this year.
Dunbar joined Ineos Grenadiers, then Team Sky, for the final months of the 2018 season after the sudden closure of Aqua Blue Sport. He has ridden one Grand Tour since then - the Giro in 2019; claiming 3rd on a stage and 22nd overall. Illness and injury have undermined his efforts at key junctures in the last couple of years, including this year just before La Vuelta, which he looked set to ride until testing positive for Covid-19.
Tosatto also said the names he mentioned for the Ineos Grenadiers team at the Giro in 2022 were the working ideas at present, adding the riders would be assessed in the weeks ahead before final decisions were made.
Asked who the leader at the Giro would be, Tissato said: "It is not a mystery, I think that our leader will be Carapaz and with him there will also be Pidcock .
"Tom went to the Vuelta last year and now he wants to try the Giro , but in the meantime he does cyclocross and has the classics already in mind. But he likes Italian racing and this is a beautiful thing for us. We will make a great team to win the Giro .
"In addition to Carapaz and Pidcock, there will also be Geoghegan Hart who won it by surprise in 2020. Now that's the way it is, then in the January training camp we will also refine the programs."
