The ongoing Mantova doping investigation, involving members of the team, as it was known in 2009, had an effect on the race. It greatly affected the team itself, as their manager Giuseppe Saronni was implicated in the investigation and stepped down as team manager shortly before the Giro began. He was replaced by former sporting director Roberto Damiani. Their contingent for the Giro specifically excluded any riders or staff implicated in the investigation. The foremost of these riders was former Giro winner Damiano Cunego, though Damiani felt he would eventually be cleared of any wrongdoing. While the was unlikely to field an overall favorite, given that their top man Cadel Evans chose to focus on the Tour de France, they were also affected by the investigation, for the second year in a row. Just as they had before the 2010 Giro, the team suspended Alessandro Ballan and Mauro Santambrogio, members of the team in 2009 who were named in the investigation. As with 2010, the team reactivated the two riders after the Giro ended.
