Denis Menchov: ‘I will go to win the Giro’

The Tour’s loss could be the Giro’s gain.

Denis Menchov — just a day after he found his Geox-TMC team was not invited to participate in the 2011 Tour de France – has confirmed he will “race the Giro to win.”

Speaking to the Spanish sports daily MARCA, Menchov said he’ll take aim at the Giro d’Italia after his Geox-TMC was snubbed Thursday by Tour organizers when they offered four wild-card invitations to French squads.

“I will go to the Giro to win,” said Menchov, who won the Italian grand tour in 2009. “I really want the Giro, and afterwards I will try to win the Vuelta. It’s no problem that Sastre has the same objectives. It will depend on how things go, then we’ll decide who will help who.”

Of course, that depends if the Giro organizers offer the Geox-TMC team an invitation.

The squad did receive an invite to Milan-San Remo on Friday, a day after learning it would not race in the Tour or Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico.

The Russian also shot down suggestions that he might try to leave the team for another squad assured of a spot in the Tour.

“I am very happy in Geox,” he said. “It’s a good group, with pleasant people.”

Menchov confirmed his early season schedule, opening with the Mallorca Challenge, the Ruta del Sol, the Volta a Catalunya, the Tour de Romandie before focusing on the Giro, assuming the team is invited.