Geraint Thomas will lead the Ineos Grenadiers in this year's Giro d'Italia (October 3-25), with former Tour de France winner Rohan Dennis, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Jonathan Castroviejo, and new time trial world champion Filippo Ganna will support the team.

Thomas will lead the GC charge after missing selection for the Tour de France at the end of August, targeting his first race since 2017 and Maglia Rosa.

Despite reports that Richard Karapas will also compete in the Giro d'Italia to defend his 2019 victory, the Ecuadorian is not in the final squad. He is expected to ride the Vuelta a España with Chris Froome.

Thomas, who recently finished fourth in the time trial world championships, had another strong showing in Tirreno-Adriatico, finishing second overall behind Simon Yates (Mitchelton Scott).

The three-week race featured a 64.9 km individual time trial, in which Thomas was one of the favorites to win.

"I am excited and ready to lead the team again in Italy. It's been a strange year for all of us, but it's great to have this big goal. My legs are feeling good, Tirreno went well, and the World Time Trial has given me a lot of confidence. The first stage is coming up and I'm more motivated than ever," Thomas said. I've known Italy for a long time, I've lived here and raced with Italian teams. This time I intend to right that wrong. It's a great team and I have total confidence in everyone around me. I'm happy to be racing Grand Tours again with Swifty, he's been my best friend since I was 12 years old and he'll be my guide."

"I used to race with Tao really well, like when he won the Dauphiné. Puccio has a lot of Giro experience and young Johnny Narvaez is in great shape. The team could not have been more supportive of me going into this race. Now it's time to fight for the maglia rosa."

The rest of the team is made up of climbers and flat stage riders, with Ganna and Dennis able to target the three time trials that will take place during the race. Castroviejo left the Tour de France on stage 18 to preserve his form for the Giro d'Italia, his first return to racing since 2014.

Denis, who finished 16th in the 2018 Giro d'Italia and won a stage, will also return to the race. Depending on his climbing form, he will both aim for the time trial and support Thomas on the mountain stages scattered throughout the race.

Coppi e Bartali winner Honatan Narvaez will return for the second time in two years, while Ben Swift will be making his first Grand Tour attempt since the 2017 Tour de France.

Geoghegan Hart will start the race for the second year in a row, hoping for a similar performance to last year's Vuelta a España, where he climbed to 20th overall after abandoning the race in 2019.

The last spot on the team was given to veteran Italian domestique Salvatore Puccio, who will be hoping for a similar performance to last year's Vuelta a España, when he finished 20th overall.

Ineos Grenadiers for the 2020 Giro d'Italia: Geraint Thomas, Rohan Dennis, Ben Swift, Honatan Narvaez, Filippo Ganna, Tao Geoghegan Hart, Salvatore Puccio.