In September LPR Brakes – Farnese team manger Fabio Bordonali said that he would have a team in 2010, but it would be a team run with new sponsors. He has now announced that bicycle manufacturer De Rosa and chemical company Stac Plastic have teamed up with him and are now the main sponsors for his Italian Pro Continental Team De Rosa – Stac Plastic.
After leader Danilo Di Luca tested positive for EPO earlier this year the team’s future was put in serious doubt. Di Luca finished second in this year’s Giro d’Italia, the race where he tested positive for doping. He won the race in 2007.
The sport’s work to continually improve testing procedures and catch cheats again saw the effect of more sponsors leaving the sport with LPR pulling out. As a result, many of the team’s top riders began to look elsewhere for work, including sprinter Alessandro Petacchi and several others who signed for the Italian Lampre-NGC team.
Bordonali is now forced to build up his team again, and part of his strategy is bringing amateur riders Matteo Busato, Stefano Borchi, Stefano Locatelli and Gabriele Tassinari up to the pro ranks so he can develop their talent.