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Late Giro call-up Joshua Giddings faces first Grand Tour

What if you get a phone call two days before the start of the Giro d’Italia telling you that you’ll be riding your very first Grand Tour? “Then you stay calm, pack your suitcase and head straight to the airport.” That is exactly what happened to Joshua Giddings, who was urgently called up after a wave of illness hit the Lotto-Intermarché squad in recent days.
Race 08 May 2026
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The story of the illness outbreak at Lotto-Intermarché has already been well reported: the Lotto Famenne Classic, rain, dirty roads- and suddenly almost the entire team fell ill. That included several riders, as well as reserve riders who had originally been scheduled to travel to Bulgaria last Tuesday for the start of the Giro d’Italia. So on Tuesday evening, the phone rang at the Giddings household. “They told me there was a possibility I would have to ride the Giro.” The confirmation followed on Wednesday, already the day of the official team presentation. “I started packing my suitcase as soon as I got that first phone call,” Joshua Giddings said. “I just wanted to be ready, just in case…”

For the 22-year-old, it will be his very first Grand Tour. Without any specific preparation, and without ever having raced more than eight consecutive days before, he is now heading into three weeks of racing. “My first concern was that suitcase. What exactly do you pack for something like this?! I actually looked it up on YouTube: ‘What to pack for a Grand Tour as a pro.’ There was also the issue of his bike. “My race bike hadn’t been loaded onto the truck to Bulgaria because everything happened too late. So I had to fly with my training bike from home. Milan Menten, who travelled a day later than the rest of the team because he was also sick, brought my race bike from the service course in Belgium. Once I’m in Italy, everything will be fine. Then I’ll have all my bikes.”

And so Josh Giddings suddenly finds himself lining up for the Giro d’Italia. “I’m really looking forward to it. I didn’t have time to prepare, I’ve just come out of a rest period after Paris–Roubaix. But that also meant I didn’t have time to get nervous. I can’t change my current form anymore, it is what it is. All I can do is start with the right mindset, and I have that. I don’t feel any pressure. I just want to do my best and enjoy the experience. It’s a crazy situation, but this is definitely a big step in my career.”

 

Picture: Cyclingmedia_agency