2006 Giro d'Italia

The 89th Giro d'Italia kicks off this weekend. It's the first Grand Tour of the season and lately it has become an even more exciting race than le Tour de France.

The burning questions of this year's race are:

Will Basso win the Giro and then finally go on to win le Tour, creating the first double winner since Marco Pantani?

Will Salvodelli use his superior descending skills to capture victory again for the second year in a row?

Is Jan Ullrich up to the challenge of both the Giro and le Tour this year?

Can Di Luca, Bettini, Simoni and Pettachi challenge the favorites at every turn, creating thrilling attacks on the climbs, descents and sprints?

Velonews has great team by team breakdown up on their site. One thing is for certain, it's going to be an exciting race that will lead to an exciting Tour de France.