How many Italians will we see in the race? There are 48 of our representatives ready to start on Friday from Durres with the goal of reaching Rome on June 1st.

Entirely Italian VF Group Bardiani CSF Faizané will line up Luca Covili, Filippo Fiorelli, Filippo Magli, Martin Marcellusi, Alessio Martinelli, Alessandro Pinarello, Manuele Tarozzi and Enrico Zanoncello.

Seven Italians from Polti VisitMalta, namely Davide Bais, Mattia Bais, Giovanni Lonardi, Mirco Maestri, Andrea Pietrobon, Davide Piganzoli and Alessandro Tonelli. Five from XdS Astana with Nicola Conci, Lorenzo Fortunato, Fausto Masnada, Cristian Scaroni and Diego Ulissi.

Four Azzurri in Bahrain Victorious, that is Damiano Caruso, Andrea Pasqualon, Antonio Tiberi and Edoardo Zambanini.

Three Italians in Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe with Giovanni Aleotti, Gianni Moscon and Giulio Pellizzari, Arkea B&B Hotels with Giosuè Epis, Luca Mozzato and Alessandro Verre, and Intermarchè Wanty with Francesco Busatto, Kevin Colleoni and Simone Petilli.

Two Italians in Lidl Trek with Giulio Ciccone and Jacopo Mosca, Movistar with Davide Formolo and Lorenzo Milesi, Soudal Quick Step with Mattia Cattaneo and Gianmarco Garofoli, Jayco AlUla with Davide De Pretto and Filippo Zana.

Finally, one Italian each for Cofidis (Stefano Oldani), Decathlon AG2r La Mondiale (Andrea Vendrame), Groupama FDJ (Lorenzo Germani), Israel Premier Tech (Marco Frigo), Q36.5 (Matteo Moschetti), Visma Lease a Bike (Edoardo Affini), UAE Emirates XRG (Filippo Baroncini).

In total 48, compared to 43 in the last edition. It's curious to note that due to team logistics and calendar choices, the two best cyclists at the moment - Filippo Ganna and Jonathan Milan will meet at the Tour de France - and with them, Italian champion Alberto Bettiol is also absent.