It's official: Jai Hindley and Wilco Kelderman will start this year's Giro d'Italia alongside Emmanuel Buchmann as two of three GC contenders for Bora-Hansgrohe The 2020 Giro will feature the Australian and Dutch heated debate over their fundamentally different views on team tactics.

Hindley and Kelderman were co-leaders of Team DSM during the third week of the 2020 Giro d'Italia. Kelderman had been named the leader of the Giro, but Hindley was also ranked higher overall. The team decided to give both riders a chance. Hindley stuck with Tao Geoghegan Hart on the Stelvio pass, and Kelderman dropped out. Hindley eventually lost the Maria Rosa to a rider from Ineos Grenadiers in the final time trial.

Hindley's strategy was unpopular with Kelderman at the time, to say the least. Two years later, in the countdown to the 2022 Giro when both will once again be teammates, both riders, Beulah and Hansgrohe, insisted that they would let bygones be bygones, and the two will come together this May to take on their respective GC contenders.

This is all part of Beulah-Hansgrohe's master plan to improve their GC game in 2022, and the 2022 Giro d'Italia is expected to be the first place a German team will seriously confront the GC bull.

Only time and the road will tell, however, whether the two candidates can repeat their 2020 podium success or whether Buchmann can benefit from a less high-profile role than his two teammates.

At the very least, the game plan is in place.

Kelderman told reporters directly on Thursday afternoon, less than 24 hours before the start of the Giro.

"If something similar happens, surely we should do it differently; we both made the podium, but I think we could have won that year."

Kelderman, who returned to the Giro after a year in which he finished fifth in the Tour de France, insisted, "It's important that something like this [controversy like the 2020 race] does not happen." Jai is also a super talented rider, so if at some point he has to choose one option (for GC), he will choose it."

Hindley said he has always had a good relationship with Kelderman and has discussed what could have happened in 2020.

"But that's in the past and we can't change it. So we're looking forward and looking forward to this year's race and we want to run together again."

Controversy aside, the two attending the Giro press conference together was proof that Bora-Hansgrohe has quietly built up his GC corps since Peter Sagan's departure last winter.

Kelderman's Thursday talk of a three-man attack on the overall Giro class with Buchmann as the third pillar certainly fit that particular bill.

Kelderman was sixth overall last year, but was forced to abandon the race in week three when he was involved in a major crash in the peloton that took him through the wind-swept lagoon at very high speed.

""Emu" (Buchmann) is on the same line as us.

"Then Lenny [Leonard Kamuna] is going for the stage win rather than another class like the mountains prize. He will get quite a few.

In Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Kelderman crashed and Hindley contracted the 24-hour virus, and both suffered setbacks.

"Certainly not in ideal condition. My knee is still a little bruised. Hopefully I'll be okay for the Giro." 0]

Kelderman, recognizing that Liege is the latest in a long line of difficulties this season, said, "Certainly our expectations are not that high, and if we don't get results so far, we don't have confidence. So we just want to see what happens. Preparation at high altitude was going well. Maybe here."

Hindley, on the other hand, has been plagued by health problems in the 2021 season that have kept him from competing in the Giro altogether, but he regained his confidence by finishing fifth overall in Tirreno-Adriatico. Due to a virus he contracted in Liège, he is a bit more unsure about his current condition.

"In Tirreno, I had a pretty big gain. Certainly we finished fifth, but it's good to be back at the top end after 2021."

"This year's season started slow and got better and better until I got the virus in Liège. It wasn't ideal until I got the virus in Liège, but I was able to recover quickly.

"I just want to get the best results. I'll take everything with a grain of salt and see what happens."

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from Bora Hansgrohe's press conference was the obvious good feeling among at least two of the three leaders of the German team.

Kelderman then asked the journalists present to sing Happy Birthday to Hindley, who turned 26 on Thursday.

Regarding his expectations for the Giro, Kelderman insisted that he would like to see one of the team's riders "podium or win"; if you're racing with a GC rider, it's clear what you want.

"What I would like to see on the team is a build-up for GC, more climbers, two helpers for flatland, etc.