Three-time Giro Rosa winner Marianne Vos will not target the overall victory at this year’s race, instead opting to chase stage wins.

The former World and Olympic champion remains one of the most dangerous women in the peloton, but has not been given the role of seeking a fourth title at the nine-day Italian stage race, which gets underway today.

"We would like to compete in this race for stage wins," Vos’ CCC-Liv team director Jeroen Blijlevens told Cycling News.

"So we'll try to be in the breakaways. We know what Marianne Vos is capable of. She won four stages last year."

Vos has 25 individual stages to her name and will therefore undoubtedly be one of the riders the rest of the peloton are hoping to get up the road with in the breakaways.

In terms of the overall classification, CCC-Liv have opted instead to go with South African Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio as their leader for the race.

The 34 year-old has two fourth-place finishes at the Giro Rosa and came in runner-up in 2018 behind Vos’ compatriot Annemiek van Vleuten.

"It's the first race for Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio since her crash in the run-up to the Strade Bianche," Blijlevens added.

"She feels good and wants to prove herself. The training data confirms that she's in good shape. We hope it shows in competition, and that Ashleigh will be able to go for a good classification.

"The second stage to Arcidosso is already a very challenging one, and that stage will make it somewhat clear what the level is like in the peloton."

The Giro Rosa gets underway today in Grosseto with a 16.8km team time trial.