The 94th edition of the Giro d’Italia celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Italian Republic. Therefore Italian road race champion Visconti will race with back number 150 and it also is the reason an additional 23th team is allowed to participate.
The tension for the 2011 Giro was already felt several months before the first start would be given: As the UCI and the race organizers were quarrelling over the invitation system. Once again Denis Menchov’s Team Geox appeared to be the obvious victim not to be invited to any Grand Tour. Luckily the UCI allowed the Giro organization to invite one extra team due to the celebrations of the Italian Republic.