Giro d'Italia: Simon Yates to lead Mitchelton-Scott at the Grand Tour

Simon Yates will lead Mitchelton-Scott at the Giro d'Italia which begins on Saturday.

The Tirreno-Adriatico champion spent 13 days in the pink jersey in the 2018 Giro and finished eighth overall last year. The 28-year-old Brit is looking forward to taking on the leadership responsibility ahead of the race start in Sicily.

"Tirreno was a great victory and I'm very proud of what I accomplished there but the big goal has always been the Giro, so I hope I can hold my form from there until the end of the Giro," Yates told the team's official website.

"The Giro is a hard and unpredictable race. You need to be ready at any moment to adapt the strategy to prepare for victory. Normally at the Giro the weather is getting better day-by-day as we start in Spring and approach summer, whereas this year will be the complete opposite.

"I'm very happy with the team we have assembled. The team is basically our team from Tirreno where we worked extremely well together and that is very important going forward into the Giro, to have the understanding of how each other work together on and off the bike."

Yates will have the same squad that was with him for the Tirreno-Adriatico.

Edoardo Affini, an Italian time trial specialist, is set to make his Grand Tour debut, while Jack Haig, Brent Bookwalter and Tirreno stage winner Lucas Hamilton will provide mountain support.

Australians Michael Hepburn, Cameron Meyer and Damien Howson complete the eight-man team.