Giro d'Italia organiser Angelo Zomegnan boasted this week that the race had a better field than the Tour de France and was again keeping his fingers crossed that it would not be overshadowed by doping scandals.

Zomegnan took over in 2005 as director of the three-week competition, which starts on Saturday in Palermo, and every year since it has been marred by high-profile riders failing dope tests or by police raids and investigations.

"Nobody knows if there will be any doping scandals at this year's Giro d'Italia but I'm hopeful and I think it'll be a great race," Zomegnan said.

"There will always be someone who tries to cheat in sport, just like in life but all the riders have accepted the biological passport system and have been tested several times."

Because the Giro d'Italia is no longer part of cycling's ProTour series, Zomegnan had total discretion on which 22 teams to invite to his race.

On Sunday he gave the Astana team a late call up after team manager Johan Bruyneel agreed to include 2007 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador in Astana's Giro line-up.

Other contenders include 2007 Giro winner Danilo Di Luca of Italy, 2007 Tour of Spain winner Denis Menchov of Russia and Contador's Astana team mate Andreas Kloden of Germany.

"We're very proud to be the only major stage race to have the winner of last year's Giro, Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana," Zomegnan said.

"The Tour de France made the decision not to invite Astana to their race this year but we make our own decisions. We didn't initially invite them because they wouldn't tell us who their team leader would be.

"Fortunately they decided they wanted to be in the Giro and agreed to bring their best riders.

"We've worked hard to get the highest quality field in this year's Giro. There is also the current world and Olympic champion Paolo Bettini, 10 different national champions and a host of young riders who are determined to make a name."

This year's Giro d'Italia kicks off a with a 23.6 km team time trial around Palermo in Sicily.

The 3,473 km route then heads north via Rome, Tuscany and the central Apennines before the decisive stages in the Dolomites and Alps.

There are mountain-top finishes at Alpe di Pampeago on stage 14, Passo Fedaia on stage 15 and Monte Pora on stage 19.

The 13.8 km mountain time trial to Plan de Corones on stage 16 and the climbs of the Passo Gavia and Passo del Mortirolo on stage 20 will also be key stages in the battle for the overall leader's pink jersey.

The Giro ends in Milan on Sunday June 1 with a flat 28.5 km individual time trial.

"I don't want to make any predictions about who will win but the route is finely balanced with time trials and mountain stages and so I hope it will be a close race," Zomegnan said.

"A perfect scenario is if it's decided in the final kilometre of the final stage."

Reuters