 The late invitation of Astana to the race provided three potential contenders : 2007 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador , third @-@ place finisher from that race Levi Leipheimer , and Andreas Klöden . One analysis of pre @-@ race favorites considered Klöden to be the strongest of them , while another considered Contador to be the race 's biggest favorite after his wins at the recently run Vuelta al País Vasco and Vuelta a Castilla y León . Both Di Luca and Contador had strong domestiques ( support riders ) by their sides , with Di Luca joined by two @-@ time Giro d 'Italia champion Paolo Savoldelli , Gabriele Bosisio , and Alessandro Spezialetti , and Contador by Leipheimer and Klöden . Other riders named as overall contenders included Denis Menchov , Gilberto Simoni , Vincenzo Nibali , Riccardo Riccò , Mauricio Soler , Marzio Bruseghin , Emanuele Sella , Evgeni Petrov , Franco Pellizotti , and Juan Manuel Gárate . Unibet.com 's odds @-@ on favorite was Klöden . 2004 Giro d 'Italia winner Damiano Cunego chose to skip the race to better prepare for the Tour de France , adding to speculation that this would be the first Giro since 1996 to feature a non @-@ Italian winner . 
