No Giro for Petacchi, Lampre-ISD Team Announced

The Lampre-ISD team for the 2012 Giro d'Italia has been announced and sprinter Alessandro Petacchi is absent. It was only a few years ago that it was thought that Petaccchi might be able to break Mario Cipollini's record for most Giro d'Italia stage wins. Cipollini has 42 stage wins (he broke Alfedo Binda's record in 2003 that had stood since 1933) and Petacchi stands at 22 wins.

Michele Scarponi will be the team leader. General Manager Saronni explained the roles of Scarponi and Cunego as such, "The Corsa Rosa is a top target for Michele Scarponi: the team supports him in his choice of competing in the Giro (he had considered not riding it in order to prepare for the Tour de France) and will support Michele fully during the entire three weeks of the race in order to try to battle for the overall standing. Cunego’s presence will be very significant because Damiano will be important on the tactical side. This won’t preclude him to be free to act in some appropriate situations. All the other blue-fuchsia cyclists were chosen for the guarantees of quality they’ll assure".

The Lampre-ISD team member descriptions as provided by the team:

- Matteo Bono: born in 1983, pro since 2006, 4 victories in career. Fourth participation in Giro d’Italia. His generosity is huge as his skill in analyzing in a clear way all the race situations.

- Damiano Cunego: born in 1981, pro since 2002, 46 victories in career. Eigth participation in Giro d’Italia. The 2004 edition winner (in addition to 4 stages), this year won one stage in Giro del Trentino, obtaining also the second place in the overall standing: he approaches Giro d’Italia relying upon an increasing condition.

- Adriano Malori: born in 1988, pro since 2010, 2 victories in career. Debut in Giro d’Italia. The Italian time trial champion will be the point of reference for the team time trial in Verona and he’ll have the chance to make the assault to the time trials of Herning and Milan.

- Przemyslaw Niemiec: born in 1980, pro since 2002, 14 victories in career. Second participation in Giro d’Italia. He’s a climber that can set an irresistible pace and in 2011 he was one of the best domestiques on climbs. He trained hard in the first part of the year in order to be ready for the Giro.

- Daniele Pietropolli: born in 1980, pro since 2003, 9 victories in career. Fifth participation in Giro. Traditionally he’s very competitive in the early part of the season, but in the 2012 he showed an outstanding fit also in the Ardenne Classics. He’s very competitive on mixed courses and he’s quite fast in the sprints.

- Daniele Righi, born in 1976, pro since 2000, 2 team time trials victories in career. Fourth Giro d'Italia for him, the wisest cyclist of the team. He's very useful in order to approach every difficulties.

- Michele Scarponi, born in 1979, pro since 2002, 24 victories in career. Eight participation in Giro d’Italia. He’s the defending winner of the Corsa Rosa and he chose to accept the challenge of trying to conquer again the Giro d’Italia after that he received the 2011 title after it was stripped from Alberto Contador.

- Alessandro Spezialetti, born in 1975, pro since 1997, 1 victory in career. Fourteenth cap in Giro d’Italia. Lampre-ISD can’t renounce to the experience that Spezialetti assures to the team, in order to have a solid base for the Giro.

- Diego Ulissi, born in 1989, pro since 2010, 6 victories in career. Second participation in Giro d’Italia. As rookie in the Pink Race, he obtained immediately a stage victory. Thanks to his versatile class, he’s the surplus value of the team.


Photo: 2012 official team photo, click on to enlarge

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Lampre-ISD Training in San Vincenzo, New TT Bikes

Fourteen Lampre-ISD riders (Cunego, Scarponi, Bertagnolli, Ulissi, Stortoni, Niemiec, Bono, Possoni, Pietropolli, Marzano, Buts, Mori, Spezialetti and Righi) that have been training in San Vincenzo (Livorno), staying at the Residence Riva degli Etruschi, concluded a seven day training camp yesterday.

The training was split into two groups: one group, which includes Scarponi and Ulissi train with long rides (up to 175 km/6 hours); the second group, with Cunego, focus on intensity. Both groups have also been working on strengthening their climbing.

In addition, everyone worked on their position on the new Wilier "Twin Foil" TT bikes that the team will use this year:




Closeups of the Twin Foil design, the name comes from twin fork blades (more photos here):



Michele Scarponi is focusing his training on preparing for Tirreno-Adriatico and the Ardenne Classics. He hasn't yet decided if he will race the Giro d'Italia or Tour de France saying, "The choice is still open. I'm training in order to prepare for only one of these two appointments, my friend and champion Contador recently asserted that is very difficult to be competitive in both races."

The team's first competition in Italy will be the Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria, February 11 and 12.

Photos: Lampre-ISD training courtesy Roberto Sardelli , used with permission, photos ©

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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,200 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

Pro Training During the Holidays

Little time for rest and relaxation during the holidays for a professional rider. Let's look at Lampre-ISD:

After the season ended in October the cycle of preparation for next year was already starting by the end of that month . This was followed by the first team training camp on December 4th.

What were Lampre-ISD’s riders doing during the Christmas holidays? Relaxing on sunny beaches or skiing? Huge holiday dinners with relatives? No, they spent their holidays in an intense way, focusing their attention on riding their bikes.

“No holidays, I trained every day, also thanks to the good weather. I only had a rest on December 25th," explained Michele Scarponi. "I’ll ride on December 31st and and January 1st too, there’s nothing better than beginning then new year on bike!".

Damiano Cunego decided to spend 25 December with his family: "I celebrated Christmas with my children, I didn’t ride. I trained intensively on December 24th and 26th. I’ll ride for 4 hours the last day of the year and on January 1st".

Alessandro Petacchi rode Christmas day as he prepares for the Tour Down Under in Australia. "I didn’t stop on Christmas, nor the 26th, and I won't be stopping for December 31st. For New Year’s Day, I’ll decide that morning, maybe I’ll do a light training ride". Petacchi will be the team captain for the TDU which is being held January 17-22; the team will also include Grega Bole, Danilo Hondo, Davide Cimolai, Massimo Graziato, Davide Viganò and the Aussie Matthew Lloyd.

For Davide Viganò, also headed to Australia, there were no off days. "I rode every day, no exception for the holidays. I’ll also train on the 31st and January 1st. I've always done it this way."

Manuele Mori mixes short and long training sessions. "Two hours and thirty minutes on Christmas, five hours on December 26: this is the best way to celebrate the holidays. On December 31st I've programmed a long training ride, no less than five hours, while on New Year’s Day I think that I’ll do one hour and thirty minutes of training".

Diego Ulissi chose to balance between holiday pleasures and training. "I rested on Christmas and ate typical Tuscan food and drank Farnese wine, but on the other days I trained: the start of the season is close and it’s very important to prepare for next year in the best way".

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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,200 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

Training Camps for Liquigas and Lampre

The first training camp for Liquigas-Cannondale at Passo San Pellegrino in the Dolomites finished today, it began on November 28th. Interestingly, while their base was at the Hotel Mozoni at 1900 meters they slept at the Chalet Cima Uomo at 2100 meters in order to benefit from the altitude.

The team relaxed with saunas, played pool, hiked, some mountain biking, stretching and fitness drills, training program development, etc.

Another important aspect of the training camp was to reinforce team spirit and also to welcome the new members. Among these is Moreno Moser, nephew of Franceso Moser. Nice to see this name again at this level.

Each rider will now return home to pursue their personalized training schedules until the next training camp which will be in the warmer climate of Sardinia. The riders will stay at Geo Village in Olbia from 12 to 22 December.

Lampre-ISD will begin their first training camp tomorrow in Darfo Boario Terme where they will be staying at the Hotel San Martino until the 7th. The focus will be checking all the riders' equipment, the set-up of their new bikes, and planning the 2012 racing calendars (such as Michele Scarponi expressing an interest in skipping the Giro d'Italia to focus on the Tour de France). The team will also be participating in some social events.


If you are interested in how one of the Lampre-ISD mechanics (Ronny Baron) prepares a Wilier from start to finish see the following (note: long videos, two parts, and in Italian but you'll get the visual step by step process):
Part I
Part II

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Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, touring, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are always welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 2,200 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog. There is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.

Lampre-ISD Announces Tour de France Team

Lampre-ISD has announced the 9 members of the team for Tour de France. Directed by the duo Maini-Lerici, there will be the following riders:

Leonardo Bertagnolli: 33 years old, Italy. 15 victories in career, 1 Tour de France.

Grega Bole: 26 years old, Slovenia. 11 victories in career, 1 Tour de France. Slovenian national championship.

Matteo Bono: 27 years old, Italy. 2 victories in career, 1 Tour de France.

Damiano Cunego: 29 years old, Italy. 45 victories in career, 3 Tour de France with 1 victory in the young riders classification.

Danilo Hondo: 37 years old, Germany. victories, 3 Tour de France.

Denys Kostyuk: 29 years old, Ukraine. 3 victories in career, debut in Tour de France.

David Loosli: 31 years old, Switzerland. 1 victory in career, 3 Tour de France.

Adriano Malori: 23 years old, Italy. 2 victories, 1 Tour de France. Time trial Italian champion.

Alessandro Petacchi: 37 years old, Italy. 180 victories in career, 3 Tour de France with 6 stage victories and 1 victory in the points classification.

As substitutes: Dmytro Krivtsov (Ukraine) and Andrey Kashechkin (Kazakhstan)were selected.

In the team staff, in addition to the sport directors Maini and Lerici, there will be the sport manager Damiani, the doctors Beltemacchi and De Grandi, the mechanics Baron, Bortoluzzo, Kunchenko and Pengo, the masseurs Borgognoni, Capelli, Inselvini, Napolitano and Padlo, the driver Bozzolo and the communication managers Appiani and Carlo Saronni.

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Team Geox Updates, Merger of Lampre and ISD

Team Geox, the new Italian professional team, has now signed Dennis Menchov. Carlos Sastre, 2008 Tour de France winner, was signed earlier in the week.

Team Geox was also hoping to sign Damiano Cunego but he has decided to remain with Lamprese-Farnese Vini (next year Lampre-ISD) for another two years. The 28 year old has been in Saronni's team for 7 seasons obtaining 26 victories, the most important being two Giro di Lombardia, Amstel Gold Race 2008, two stages in Vuelta a España 2009 and the white jersey in Tour de France 2006, in addition to the silver medal in the Varese 2008 World Championship.

2009 Giro d'Italia champion and two-time Vuelta a España winner Denis Menchov signed with Team Geox on August 19th. "We're very happy to see Denis Menchov understood how deep the project we have in mind at Geox is," said General Manager Mauro Gianetti. "He'll be forming a very competitive pair with Sastre for the big stage races. Menchov is a rider who excels in the time trials, and his characteristics will perfectly complement with the pure climbing style of Sastre. The Geox team is getting formed right within our plans, and we will add some interesting riders by the end of the season."

Another announcement coming this week was the merger of of Lampre and the Ukrainian cycling group ISD. The joint project, meant to have at least a three year term beginning in 2011, will be known as Lampre-ISD. In 2009 and 2010 ISD (a large big metallurgical company) supported an Ukrainian-Italian Professional Continental team and they have now decided to raise their level of involvement by joining a ProTour team.

Photo: Geox shoe. Geox is a well-known Italian footwear and clothing company famous for footwear with waterproof yet breathable soles.

Stories for the Italian Cycling Journal about rides, granfondos, having a good time cycling in Italy, Italian cycling history, etc. are very welcome. Contact me at veronaman@gmail.com. There are more than 1,500 stories in this blog. The search feature to the right works best for finding subjects in the blog and there is also a translate button at the bottom so you can translate each page.