List of teams and cyclists in the 2013 Giro d'Italia
By rider
Table:
No	Name	Nationality	Team	Age	Position

1	Ryder Hesjedal	Canada	Garmin-Sharp	32	DNS-13

2	Tom Danielson	United States	Garmin-Sharp	35	49

3	Thomas Dekker	Netherlands	Garmin-Sharp	28	136

4	Nathan Haas †	Australia	Garmin-Sharp	24	DNF-16

5	Ramūnas Navardauskas †	Lithuania	Garmin-Sharp	25	87

6	Robert Hunter	South Africa	Garmin-Sharp	37	141

7	David Millar	Great Britain	Garmin-Sharp	36	DNF-14

8	Peter Stetina	United States	Garmin-Sharp	25	52

9	Christian Vande Velde	United States	Garmin-Sharp	36	110

11	Domenico Pozzovivo	Italy	Ag2r-La Mondiale	30	10

12	Davide Appollonio †	Italy	Ag2r-La Mondiale	23	168

13	Manuel Belletti	Italy	Ag2r-La Mondiale	27	144

14	Julien Bérard	France	Ag2r-La Mondiale	25	DNS-8

15	Carlos Betancur †	Colombia	Ag2r-La Mondiale	23	5

16	Guillaume Bonnafond	France	Ag2r-La Mondiale	25	107

17	Hubert Dupont	France	Ag2r-La Mondiale	32	32

18	Ben Gastauer	Luxembourg	Ag2r-La Mondiale	25	51

19	Sylvain Georges	France	Ag2r-La Mondiale	29	DNS-11

21	Franco Pellizotti	Italy	Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela	35	11

22	Giairo Ermeti	Italy	Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela	32	151

Based on the following table and the article excerpts listed.

Respond to the question below: What is the team of the cyclist who won his first and only Grand Tour at the 2012 Giro d'Italia ? Respond with the correct answer (omit explanations) in JSON format as {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Avoid adding external knowledge.

Eric Ryder Hesjedal ( /ˈraɪdər ˈhɛʃədɑːl/ ; born December 9 , 1980 ) is a Canadian retired professional racing cyclist who competed in both mountain biking and road racing between 1998 and 2016 . Hesjedal won a silver medal at the 1998 Junior , 2001 Under-23 , and Elite world championship in mountain biking . He turned professional with U.S . Postal Service in 2004 after several years with the Rabobank continental team . Having previously finished in fifth place at the 2010 Tour de France , Hesjedal won his first and only Grand Tour at the 2012 Giro d'Italia , the first Grand Tour win by a Canadian . Other major wins include two stages at the Vuelta a España , the first such stage wins by a Canadian .
Canada is a country in the northern part of North America . Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean , covering 9.98 million square kilometres ( 3.85 million square miles ) , making it the world 's second-largest country by total area . Its southern border with the United States , stretching some 8,891 kilometres ( 5,525 mi ) , is the world 's longest bi-national land border . Canada 's capital is Ottawa , and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto , Montreal , and Vancouver . As a whole , Canada is sparsely populated , with most of its land area dominated by forest and tundra . Its population is highly urbanized , with over 80 percent of its inhabitants concentrated in large and medium-sized cities , and 70 percent residing within 100 kilometres ( 62 mi ) of the southern border . Canada 's climate varies widely across its vast area , ranging from Arctic climate in the north to hot summers in the southern regions , with four distinct seasons . Various indigenous peoples inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years before European colonization . Beginning in the 16th century , British and French expeditions explored and later settled along the Atlantic coast . As a consequence of various armed conflicts , France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 . In 1867 , with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation , Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces . This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom .
EF Education First Pro Cycling ( UCI Code : EF1 ) , is an American professional cycling team . Founded in 2003 , they have competed in the UCI World Tour since 2009 . Headquartered in Boulder , Colorado , United States , the team maintains an equipment and training facility in Girona , Catalonia , Spain . In 2018 , EF Education First , an international education company - founded in Sweden but headquartered and incorporated out of Switzerland - purchased a controlling equity stake in Slipstream Sports , the sports management company behind the team . The founder and CEO is American Jonathan Vaughters and the head sporting director is Briton Charly Wegelius . [ a ] Between the 2009 and the 2019 UCI World Tours , the team finished inside the top-ten on six occasions . Notable results include : the 2009 Vattenfall Cyclassics and the 2010 Vattenfall Cyclassics with American Tyler Farrar , the 2010 Tour de Pologne , the 2013 Volta a Catalunya , the 2013 Liège-Bastogne-Liège , and the 2014 Giro di Lombardia with Irishman Dan Martin , the 2011 Tour Down Under with Australian Cameron Meyer , the 2011 Paris-Roubaix with Belgian Johan Vansummeren , the 2012 Giro d'Italia with Canadian Ryder Hesjedal , the 2014 Critérium du Dauphiné with American Andrew Talansky , the 2019 Tour of Flanders with Italian Alberto Bettiol , and the 2019 Bretagne Classic Ouest-France with Belgian Sep Vanmarcke . Between 2008 and 2019 , the team claimed 25 Grand Tour stages - eight in the Giro d'Italia , eight in the Tour de France , and nine in the Vuelta a España . Colombian Rigoberto Urán and Briton Bradley Wiggins finished second and third , respectively , in the 2017 and 2009 Tours de France . In 2010 , Garmin-Transitions signed Norwegian Thor Hushovd , the reigning UCI Road World Race Champion . In 2010 , Briton David Millar won the silver medal at the UCI Road World Time Trial Championships . In 2015 and 2018 , Lithuanian Ramūnas Navardauskas and Canadian Michael Woods won the bronze medal at their respective UCI Road World Race Championships .
Thomas Tom Danielson ( born March 13 , 1978 ) is an American former professional road racing cyclist who competed professionally between 2002 and 2015 for the Mercury Cycling Team ( 2002 ) , the Saturn Cycling Team ( 2003 ) , Fassa Bortolo ( 2004 ) , Discovery Channel ( 2005-2007 ) and Cannondale-Garmin ( 2008-2015 ) .
The United States of America ( USA ) , commonly known as the United States ( U.S. or US ) or America , is a country consisting of 50 states , a federal district , five major self-governing territories , and various possessions . [ g ] At 3.8 million square miles ( 9.8 million km2 ) , it is the world 's third or fourth-largest country by total area [ b ] and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe . Most of the country is located in central North America between Canada and Mexico . With an estimated population of over 328 million , the U.S. is the third most populous country in the world . The capital is Washington , D.C. , and the most populous city is New York City . Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago . European colonization began in the 16th century . The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast . Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies led to the American Revolutionary War lasting between 1775 and 1783 , leading to independence . The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century - gradually acquiring new territories , displacing Native Americans , and admitting new states - until by 1848 it spanned the continent . During the second half of the 19th century , the American Civil War led to the abolition of slavery in the United States . The Spanish-American War and World War I confirmed the country 's status as a global military power .
Thomas Dekker ( born 6 September 1984 ) is a Dutch former professional road racing cyclist . His career highlights included winning Tirreno-Adriatico in 2006 and Tour de Romandie in 2007 . He won two Dutch National Time Trial Championships and represented his country at the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens , Greece . A few days before the start of the 2009 Tour de France , it was announced that Dekker had tested positive for EPO in a retroactive test carried out on a urine sample taken in December 2007 . Dekker initially protested his innocence but he later admitted to using EPO , claiming it was a one-time mistake . He eventually admitted to using EPO over at least parts of the 2007 and 2008 seasons , although he declined to give exact dates . Dekker was suspended for two years , from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2011 . Dekker 's career has been marked by other doping allegations . He was a client of Luigi Cecchini , an Italian doctor who was investigated in relation to doping matters , though Dekker adamantly denies that Cecchini was involved in his doping . In 2009 he was also questioned in the Humanplasma doping scandal , a suspected doping ring connected to Austrian manager Stefan Matschiner . Dekker retired in March 2015 after narrowly failing to set a new world hour record .
The Netherlands ( Dutch : Nederland , [ ˈneːdərlɑnt ] ( listen ) ) , informally Holland , is a country in Northwestern Europe with some overseas territories in the Caribbean . In Europe , it consists of 12 provinces that border Germany to the east , Belgium to the south , and the North Sea to the northwest , with maritime borders in the North Sea with those countries and the United Kingdom . Together with the Caribbean Netherlands - Bonaire , Sint Eustatius and Saba - it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands . The official language is Dutch and a secondary official language in the province of Friesland is West Frisian . In the north and east of the country , Low Saxon is also spoken , and in the southeast , Limburgish . In the Caribbean Netherlands English and Papiamento are recognised languages . The five largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam , Rotterdam , The Hague , Utrecht and Eindhoven . Amsterdam is the country 's most populous city and nominal capital , while The Hague holds the seat of the States General , Cabinet and Supreme Court . The Port of Rotterdam is the busiest seaport in Europe , and the busiest in any country outside Asia . Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is the busiest airport in the Netherlands , and the third busiest in Europe . The country is a founding member of the EU , Eurozone , G10 , NATO , OECD and WTO , as well as a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union . It hosts several intergovernmental organisations and international courts , many of which are centered in The Hague , which is consequently dubbed 'the world 's legal capital ' .
Nathan Peter Haas ( born 12 March 1989 ) is an Australian professional road racing cyclist , who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Cofidis .
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia , is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent , the island of Tasmania , and numerous smaller islands . It is the largest country in Oceania and the world 's sixth-largest country by total area . The population of 26 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard . Australia 's capital is Canberra , and its largest city is Sydney . The country 's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne , Brisbane , Perth , and Adelaide . Indigenous Australians inhabited the continent for about 65,000 years prior to the first arrival of Dutch explorers in the early 17th century , who named it New Holland . In 1770 , Australia 's eastern half was claimed by Great Britain and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788 , a date which became Australia 's national day . The population grew steadily in subsequent decades , and by the time of an 1850s gold rush , most of the continent had been explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies established . On 1 January 1901 , the six colonies federated , forming the Commonwealth of Australia . Australia has since maintained a stable liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy , comprising six states and ten territories . Australia is the oldest , flattest , and driest inhabited continent , with the least fertile soils . It has a landmass of 7,617,930 square kilometres ( 2,941,300 sq mi ) .
Ramūnas Navardauskas ( born 30 January 1988 ) is a Lithuanian professional road racing cyclist , who currently rides for UCI ProTeam Nippo-Delko-One Provence .
The first known record of the name of Lithuania ( Lithuanian : Lietuva ) is in a 9 March 1009 story of Saint Bruno in the Quedlinburg Chronicle . The Chronicle recorded a Latinized form of the name Lietuva : Litua ( pronounced [ litua ] ) . Due to the lack of reliable evidence , the true meaning of the name is unknown . Nowadays , scholars still debate the meaning of the word and there are a few plausible versions . Since Lietuva has a suffix ( -uva ) , the original word should have no suffix . [ citation needed ] A likely candidate is Lietā . Because many Baltic ethnonyms originated from hydronyms , linguists have searched for its origin among local hydronyms . Usually , such names evolved through the following process : hydronym → toponym → ethnonym . Lietava , a small river not far from Kernavė , the core area of the early Lithuanian state and a possible first capital of the eventual Grand Duchy of Lithuania , is usually credited as the source of the name . However , the river is very small and some find it improbable that such a small and local object could have lent its name to an entire nation . On the other hand , such naming is not unprecedented in world history . Artūras Dubonis proposed another hypothesis , that Lietuva relates to the word leičiai ( plural of leitis ) .
Robert Robbie Hunter ( born 22 April 1977 ) is a retired South African professional road racing cyclist who competed professionally between 1999 and 2013 . Hunter competed with UCI ProTeam Garmin-Sharp during his final professional season .
South Africa , officially the Republic of South Africa ( RSA ) , is the southernmost country in Africa . It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres ( 1,739 mi ) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans ; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia , Botswana , and Zimbabwe ; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini ( Swaziland ) ; and it surrounds the enclaved country of Lesotho . South Africa is the largest country in Southern Africa and the 24th-largest country in the world by land area and , with over 58 million people , is also the world 's 24th-most populous nation . It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere . About 80 percent of South Africans are of Bantu ancestry , divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages , nine of which have official status . The remaining population consists of Africa 's largest communities of European , Asian ( Indian ) , and multiracial ( Coloured ) ancestry . South Africa is a multiethnic society encompassing a wide variety of cultures , languages , and religions . Its pluralistic makeup is reflected in the constitution 's recognition of 11 official languages , which is the fourth-highest number in the world . Two of these languages are of European origin : Afrikaans developed from Dutch and serves as the first language of most coloured and white South Africans ; English reflects the legacy of British colonialism , and is commonly used in public and commercial life , though it is fourth-ranked as a spoken first language . The country is one of the few in Africa never to have had a coup d'état , and regular elections have been held for almost a century . However , the vast majority of black South Africans were not enfranchised until 1994 . During the 20th century , the black majority sought to claim more rights from the dominant white minority , with this struggle playing a large role in the country 's recent history and politics .
David Millar ( born 4 January 1977 ) is a British retired professional road racing cyclist . He rode for Cofidis from 1997 to 2004 and Garmin-Sharp from 2008 to 2014 . He has won four stages of the Tour de France , five of the Vuelta a España and one stage of the Giro d'Italia . He was the British national road champion and the national time trial champion , both in 2007 . Millar was banned for two years in 2004 after he admitted to taking banned performance-enhancing drugs . Upon his return from his ban , Millar became an anti-doping campaigner , a stance which eventually resulted in journalist Alasdair Fotheringham describing him as an 'elder statesman ' of cycling .
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , commonly known as the United Kingdom ( UK or U.K. ) or Britain , [ note 11 ] is a sovereign country located off the north­western coast of the European mainland . Existing under its current name since 1921 , the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain , the north­eastern part of the island of Ireland , and many smaller islands . Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland . Otherwise , the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean , with the North Sea to the east , the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the southwest , giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world . The Irish Sea separates Great Britain and Ireland . The total area of the United Kingdom is 94,000 square miles ( 240,000 km2 ) . The United Kingdom is a unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy . [ note 12 ] The current monarch is Queen Elizabeth II , who has reigned since 1952 , making her the world 's longest-serving current head of state . The United Kingdom 's capital and largest city is London , a global city and financial centre with an urban area population of 10.3 million . Other major cities include Birmingham , Manchester , Glasgow , Leeds and Liverpool . The United Kingdom consists of four constituent countries : England , Scotland , Wales , and Northern Ireland . Their capitals are London , Edinburgh , Cardiff , and Belfast , respectively .
Peter Stetina ( born August 8 , 1987 ) is an American off-road cyclist , who competes in gravel and endurance mountain bike racing as a privateer . Prior to this , he competed as a road racing cyclist between 2010 and 2019 for the Garmin-Sharp , BMC Racing Team and Trek-Segafredo teams .
Christian Vande Velde ( born May 22 , 1976 ) is a retired American professional road racing cyclist of Belgian descent , who rode professionally between 1998 and 2013 . Vande Velde competed for the U.S . Postal Service , Liberty Seguros , Team CSC and Garmin-Sharp squads . He is the son of United States Bicycling Hall of Fame inductee John Vande Velde .
Domenico Pozzovivo ( born 30 November 1982 ) is an Italian professional road racing cyclist , who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam NTT Pro Cycling . His very small stature confer him with the qualities of a pure climbing specialist . He is most known for a victory in stage 8 of the 2012 Giro d'Italia , an overall victory in the 2012 Giro del Trentino , and is notable for his high education .
Italy ( Italian : Italia [ iˈtaːlja ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Italian Republic ( Italian : Repubblica Italiana [ reˈpubblika itaˈljaːna ] ) , is a European country consisting of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and surrounded by several islands . Italy is located in south-central Europe , and it is also considered a part of Western Europe . The country covers a total area of 301,340 km2 ( 116,350 sq mi ) and shares land borders with France , Switzerland , Austria , Slovenia , and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino . Italy has a territorial exclave in Switzerland ( Campione ) and a maritime exclave in the Tunisian Sea ( Lampedusa ) . With around 60 million inhabitants , Italy is the third-most populous member state of the European Union . The capital and largest city is Rome ; other major cities are Milan , Naples , Turin , Palermo , Genoa , Bologna , Florence and Venice . Due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean , Italy has historically been home to myriad peoples and cultures . In addition to the various ancient peoples dispersed throughout what is now modern-day Italy , the most predominant being the Indo-European Italic peoples who gave the peninsula its name , beginning from the classical era , Phoenicians and Carthaginians founded colonies mostly in insular Italy , Greeks established settlements in the so-called Magna Graecia of Southern Italy , while Etruscans and Celts inhabited central and northern Italy respectively . An Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom in the 8th century BC , which eventually became a republic with a government of the Senate and the People . The Roman Republic initially conquered and assimilated its neighbours on the Italian peninsula , eventually expanding and conquering parts of Europe , North Africa and Asia . By the first century BC , the Roman Empire emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean Basin and became a leading cultural , political and religious centre , inaugurating the Pax Romana , a period of more than 200 years during which Italy 's law , technology , economy , art , and literature developed . Italy remained the homeland of the Romans and the metropole of the empire , whose legacy can also be observed in the global distribution of culture , governments , Christianity and the Latin script .
AG2R La Mondiale ( UCI team code : ALM ) is a French cycling team with UCI WorldTeam status . Its title sponsor is AG2R La Mondiale , one of the biggest French insurance firms . The team is predominantly French .
Davide Appollonio ( born 2 June 1989 ) is an Italian professional road bicycle racer , who currently rides for UCI Continental team Amore & Vita-Prodir . Appollonio first made an impression in the professional ranks riding as a stagiaire for Cervélo TestTeam during the latter part of 2009 , before signing for the team as a neo-pro for the 2010 season . He joined Team Sky for the 2011 season , picking up his first win for the team on the 3rd stage of the Tour de Luxembourg , and then his first overall Sprints competition the following day . Appollonio left Team Sky at the end of the 2012 season , and joined Ag2r-La Mondiale on a two-year contract from the 2013 season onwards . In October 2014 he announced that he would join Androni Giocattoli for 2015 , the first time Appollonio has joined an Italian professional cycling team . On 30 June 2015 Appollonio gave an adverse analytical finding for EPO , on 14 June - two weeks after completing the Giro d'Italia , and was provisionally suspended .
Manuel Belletti ( born 14 October 1985 ) is an Italian professional road bicycle racer , who currently rides for UCI ProTeam Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec .
Julien Bérard ( born 27 July 1987 ) is a French professional road bicycle racer , who last rode for UCI WorldTeam AG2R La Mondiale .
France ( French : [ fʁɑ̃s ] ( listen ) ) , officially the French Republic ( French : République française , pronounced [ ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛːz ] ( listen ) ) , is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories . [ XIII ] The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea , and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean . It is bordered by Belgium , Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast , Switzerland and Italy to the east , and Andorra and Spain to the south . The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic , Pacific and Indian oceans . The country 's 18 integral regions ( five of which are situated overseas ) span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres ( 248,573 sq mi ) and a total population of 67.02 million ( as of July 2019 [ update ] ) . France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris , the country 's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre . Other major urban areas include Lyon , Marseille , Toulouse , Bordeaux , Lille and Nice . France , including its overseas territories , has the most number of time zones of any country , with a total of 12 . During the Iron Age , what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls , a Celtic people . Rome annexed the area in 51 BC , holding it until the arrival of Germanic Franks in 476 , who formed the Kingdom of Francia . The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned Francia into East Francia , Middle Francia and West Francia . West Francia , which became the Kingdom of France in 987 , emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages , following its victory in the Hundred Years ' War ( 1337-1453 ) .
Carlos Alberto Betancur Gómez ( born 13 October 1989 ) is a Colombian professional road racing cyclist , who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Movistar Team .
Colombia ( /kəˈlʌmbiə/ ( listen ) kə-LUM-bee-ə , /-ˈlɒm-/ -⁠LOM- ; Spanish : [ koˈlombja ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Republic of Colombia ( Spanish : República de Colombia ( help·info ) ) , [ Note 1 ] is a country largely situated in the north of South America , with land and territories in North America . Colombia is bounded on the north by the Caribbean Sea , the northwest by Panama , the south by both Ecuador and Peru , the east by Venezuela , the southeast by Brazil , and the west by the Pacific . It comprises thirty-two departments , with the capital in Bogotá . Colombia is ethnically and linguistically diverse , with its rich cultural heritage reflecting influences by various Amerindian civilizations , European settlement , forced African labor , and immigration from Europe and the greater Middle East . Urban centres are concentrated in the Andean highlands and the Caribbean coast . Colombia has been inhabited by various American Indian peoples since at least 12,000 BCE , including the Muisca , Quimbaya , and the Tairona . Spaniards arrived in 1499 and by the mid-16th century annexed part of the region , establishing the New Kingdom of Granada , with Santafé de Bogotá as its capital . Independence from Spain was achieved in 1819 , but by 1830 the Gran Colombia Federation was dissolved , with what is now Colombia and Panama emerging as the Republic of New Granada . The new sovereign state experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation ( 1858 ) , and then the United States of Colombia ( 1863 ) , before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886 . Panama seceded in 1903 , leading to Colombia 's present borders . Beginning in the 1960s , the country suffered from an asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict and political violence , both of which escalated in the 1990s . Since 2005 , there has been significant improvement in security , stability , and rule of law .
Guillaume Bonnafond ( born 23 June 1987 ) is a French former professional road bicycle racer , who rode professionally between 2009 and 2018 for the AG2R La Mondiale and Cofidis teams . He had excelled at both basketball and cycling as a youth , but eventually concentrated on the latter , training with Ag2r-La Mondiale 's Chambéry Cyclisme Formation , subsequently joining the squad as an amateur and , in 2009 as a professional .
Hubert Dupont ( born 13 November 1980 in Lyon ) is a French former professional road bicycle racer , who competed professionally between 2005 and 2019 for the R.A.G.T . Semences and AG2R La Mondiale teams . His sporting career began with AC Lyon Vaise .
Ben Gastauer ( born 14 November 1987 ) is a professional Luxembourgish road cyclist , who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam AG2R La Mondiale .
Luxembourg ( /ˈlʌksəmbɜːrɡ/ ( listen ) LUK-səm-burg ; Luxembourgish : Lëtzebuerg [ ˈlətsəbuə̯ɕ ] ( listen ) ; French : Luxembourg ; German : Luxemburg ) , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , [ c ] is a landlocked country in western Europe . It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north , Germany to the east , and France to the south . Its capital , Luxembourg City , is one of the four official capitals of the European Union ( together with Brussels , Frankfurt , and Strasbourg ) and the seat of the European Court of Justice , the highest judicial authority in the EU . Its culture , people , and languages are highly intertwined with its neighbours , making it essentially a mixture of French and German cultures , as evident by the nation 's three official languages : French , German , and the national language of Luxembourgish . The repeated invasions by Germany , especially in World War II , resulted in the country 's strong will for mediation between France and Germany and , among other things , led to the foundation of the European Union . With an area of 2,586 square kilometres ( 998 sq mi ) , it is one of the smallest sovereign states in Europe . In 2019 , Luxembourg had a population of 613,894 , which makes it one of the least-populous countries in Europe , but by far the one with the highest population growth rate . Foreigners account for nearly half of Luxembourg 's population . As a representative democracy with a constitutional monarch , it is headed by Grand Duke Henri and is the world 's only remaining sovereign grand duchy . Luxembourg is a developed country , with an advanced economy and one of the world 's highest GDP ( PPP ) per capita . The City of Luxembourg with its old quarters and fortifications was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994 due to the exceptional preservation of the vast fortifications and the old city . The history of Luxembourg is considered to begin in 963 , when count Siegfried acquired a rocky promontory and its Roman-era fortifications known as Lucilinburhuc , little castle , and the surrounding area from the Imperial Abbey of St. Maximin in nearby Trier .
Sylvain Georges ( born 1 May 1984 ) is a professional French racing cyclist who last rode for Ag2r-La Mondiale . He was born in Beaumont , Puy-de-Dôme , France . On 18 May 2012 , Georges won his first pro tour stage on the 6th stage of the Tour of California , where he broke away with six other riders at the start of a mountain stage leading to Big Bear Lake and rode solo for the last 50 kilometers to take the win as the peloton was in sight . In May 2013 Georges withdrew from the Giro D'Italia after testing positive for Heptaminol . He was later sacked by his team .
Franco Pellizotti ( born 15 January 1978 ) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer , who rode professionally between 2001 and 2018 for the Alessio , Liquigas-Doimo , Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec and Bahrain-Merida teams . Pellizotti now works as a directeur sportif for the Bahrain-McLaren team .
Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec ( UCI team code : ANS ) is an Italian-registered UCI Professional Continental cycling team that participates in road bicycle racing events on the UCI Continental Circuits and when selected as a wildcard to UCI ProTour events . Antonio Castano manages the team , with assistance from directeurs sportifs Giovanni Ellena , Gianni Savio , Didier Paindaveine and Marco Bellini . The main sponsors , Androni Giocattoli S.A. , are an Italian toy manufacturer .
Giairo Ermeti ( born 7 April 1981 in Rottofreno ) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer , who competed as a professional between 2005 and 2013 . Ermeti retired at the end of the 2013 season .