Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) announces that he is sharing the leadership role at the 2026 Giro d'Italia with French teammate, Mathys Rondel. The Australian targets an improvement on his two 10th places in the last two years at the race. Speaking to Velora in a pre-race interview, he said he wants to improve on the result he has recorded in his last two Grand Tour campaigns.
"I want to do better than the last two times with the 10th place on the GC," Storer said. "But at the same time, the competition's super, super hard. Every year is different."
Storer finished 10th overall at the Giro in 2024 and 2025. Last year's Giro was complicated by crashes he said went largely unnoticed. "I found out recently that no-one actually knew that I crashed a lot during the Giro last year. I had four different crashes," he said. "I think that took a bit out of me."
Tudor confirmed its eight-rider lineup earlier this week, describing Storer and Rondel's "combined strengths in the mountains" as the foundation of the team's GC intent. Storer was clear about the arrangement. "We're doing shared leadership for the race," he said. "It's always better to have two riders up there than me being by myself or Mathys being by himself."
Even if these goals aren't achieved by Storer, he was clear that there is a higher goal in the team's process that may not mean it is complete failure. "There's also other process goals that I want to do during the race, so it's not like: if I don't, if I do worse, maybe I'm still happy with, how the race went."
Why Tudor are backing two GC options
Rondel, 22, is set for his Grand Tour debut after a run of spring results. The Frenchman finished second at Trofeo Andratx–Pollença, eighth overall at Paris-Nice and fifth overall at the Tour of the Alps.
Storer said Rondel's trajectory supports the setup. "Mathys has shown that he can ride GC in WorldTour races and week-long races, and he is growing stronger and stronger. I think he has a lot of potential," he said.
"I think that can also bring its advantages because it gives Mathys and I more motivation to really race into the final," he added. "I think approaching the race this way is a benefit to the team as well, and it's good that we have both of us in good shape ready to do this Giro."
With Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) in the field, Storer said he could target the podium. "I don't see why I shouldn't dream of that," he said. He identified Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) as a rival for that fight. "Adam Yates would definitely be really, really strong and a good pick for the final podium."
Another rider that the Australian is keen to stay with is Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). "I think Pellizzari is, well I hope, is the main rival." Storer chuckled. "That means I'm doing a good race if I can be up there with him."
Storer pointed to the time trial and mountain stages as decisive parts of the route. The 2026 Giro features a flat 42km individual time trial on stage 10 from Viareggio to Massa, a day Storer acknowledged could prove costly. "If you have a bad day in the TT, it's a lot worse than a bad day in a road stage, because you've got no one who can give you a hand, I think that is going to be interesting," he said.
The route also includes summit finishes at Blockhaus, Pila, Carì and Piancavallo. "The mountaintop finishes should be quite good for me on paper," Storer said.
The racing starts over in Bulgaria, a new country for the majority of the peloton, including Storer. "I've never been to Bulgaria, but the sun is shining. It is a little bit cold, I was quite surprised about that, I though it would be a little bit warmer." he added. "Yeah, I think it is going to be interesting experience. I've never been to this country and I think they're going to put on a big welcome for the race."
Tudor have never won a Grand Tour stage. Storer and Rondel will try to change that across 3,468km of racing in the next three weeks.
Cover image credit: Tudor Pro Cycling
