Two-year contract should prevent rumored transfer to Quick Step team
Last month Italian newspaper la Gazzetta dello Sport linked Riccardo Riccò (Ceramica Flaminia) with a move to the Quick Step team for a start in this year’s Vuelta a España. The Italian returned to the peloton this spring amidst much controversy following a twenty month doping ban for using CERA, the third generation EPO.
There has been no confirmation of negotiations by Quick Step team or Riccò that could lead to a possible mid-season transfer, but his current team, Ceramica Flaminia, says the Italian is obligated to stay.
“I’ll just say to celebrate a marriage it takes two,” Ceramica Flaminia team manager Roberto Marrone told tuttobiciweb.it. “Here not only are there two, but don’t forget that Riccò married a major project, and has signed a two-year contract with Ceramica Flaminia and the contract contains no ‘get out’ clause.”
The 26 year old has been unable to participate in any major races this season, and is no doubt disappointed with the fact that he isn’t racing at a higher level. However, the ‘Cobra’ may well be better served with honoring his contract, since trying to snake his way out of Ceramica Flaminia likely won’t help him to regain any respect. His Italian team has built their program around the rider, and isn’t likely to let him go without a fight.
“Riccardo is a rider in whom we believe, on which we have invested and with which we want to continue working,” added Marrone. “The rest is just talk.”
Since his return Riccò has won stages in the Settimana Lombarda and Giro del Trentino. He was second overall in Trentino behind Alexandre Vinokourov, and finished in front of this year’s Giro d’Italia winner Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Doimo) and fourth place finisher Michele Scarponi (Androni Giocattoli). He recently took overall victory at the Tour of Austria in dramatic fashion, finishing the time trial bloody and bruised after colliding with a motorcycle.