Five time Tour de France cycling champion Lance Armstrong of the United States and Jan Ullrich of Germany will not be competing in this year's Tour of Italy race.
Organizers announced Tuesday that 20 teams - including the Saeco team of defending champion Gilberto Simoni - are among those taking part. Top challenger Stefano Garzelli's team is also in the field for the three-week race.
However, Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service team and Ullrich's T-Mobile squad are not entered in the three-week race, which gets underway May 8.
This year's Giro promises to include a duel between Mario Cipollini and Alessandro Petacchi of Italy. Ukraine's Yaroslav Popovych and Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen are also entered in the Giro.