Giro d’Italia: Jayco AlUla with multiple cards to play as Caleb Ewan, Luke Plapp and Eddie Dunbar lead team

Jayco AlUla head into the Giro d’Italia with multiple cards to play as they line up with Caleb Ewan, Luke Plapp and Eddie Dunbar within their eight-rider roster.

Dunbar will aim to replicate his top-ten performance from last year, while Ewan will target the glut of sprint stages that litter the race. Plapp will target the two individual time trials and aim to win stages from breaks.

Read more: Giro d’Italia 2024: Essential race preview

Ewan, 29, has a strong record in the Giro d’Italia, having won five stages during his long career. He’s already won twice this season but will be looking to take his first WorldTour level race in just over two years as he competes against a strong sprint contingent that includes Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), Fabio Jakobsen (dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike).

“I'm thrilled to return to the Giro after two years of absence. It's a race that I have always liked and I have some great memories having previously won five stages,” Ewan said in a press release.

“This year, I started my season with the Australian races, and then I won a stage in Oman before racing Tirreno-Adriatico. This past month and a half I have been preparing for the Giro with a training camp at altitude and I will return to the races next Wednesday in Frankfurt before heading to Italy. I can count on the help of two great professionals like Luka Mezgec and Max Walscheid and I believe we can do good things.”

The multi-pronged team includes GC-aiming Dunbar, who finished seventh last year. The Irish rider moved to the Australian team from Ineos Grenadiers to have more opportunities in stage races, and he’ll aim to continue at paying back that faith by riding a solid GC race in the mountains for a second consecutive season. The 27-year-old has had an injury-hit spring but heads into the Giro d’Italia fresh and ready to impress.

“I'm looking forward to returning to the Giro and trying to repeat, if not improve last year's good result. My preparation has been pretty okay, maybe not quite as well as last year but it will be nice to go back to the Giro fighting again,” he said.

“This year's course is very tough right from the start, the first two stages will probably be two GC days, and so you have to be ready from the very beginning. This year there will also be some gravel roads, the classic long alpine climbs and two challenging time trials. Basically, the usual hard and demanding Giro."

Jayco have an attacking outlook for the rest of the race with veteran and two-time Giro stage winner Alessandro De Marchi lining up alongside Filippo Zana, who won a stage last year, and Plapp, who is making his Giro debut.

Read more: Luke Plapp: Last year I wasn’t given the chance to be a leader enough

Plapp won the Australian road and time trial national championships at the start of the year and wore the leader’s jersey at Paris-Nice before taking a highly credible sixth-placed finish. He heads into the Grand Tour with ambitions of competing for the two time trials but can also be a threat from several breaks.

“It will be exciting to be there at the start next Saturday for one of the world's most fascinating races,” said general manager Brent Copeland.

“The Giro officially starts on 4th May but in reality, it started many months ago. Riders and staff have worked for months to prepare for this event, which has always given us great satisfaction over the years. I'm proud of the work we've done together and I'm sure our team will stand out in each of the 21 stages. We have built a team that brings together highly experienced men and young athletes with great talent. We're finally here, it's time to leave the verdict to the roads.”

For everything you need to know about the 2024 Giro d'Italia, from the history of the race to this year's route and start list, be sure to check out our dedicated race hub.