Diego Ulissi also in search of victory after narrowly missing out on last year’s final stage
While newly elected Giro d’Italia champion Michele Scarponi, and super-sprinter Alessandro Petacchi both head to Tirreno-Adriatico next week, Lampre-ISD’s team in Paris-Nice will be led by Damiano Cunego. Il Piccolo Principe made a relatively gentle start to the season, in the Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria and Trofeo Laigueglia, but second place in Sunday’s GP Lugano – outsprinting the main group behind race winner Eros Capecchi – shows that he is coming into form.
Cunego has not raced Paris-Nice since 2010, but with the focus of his season falling on July’s Tour de France, he is eager to do well in the early French race.
“Of course Paris-Nice is an important appointment for me, so I’ll be focused on obtaining top results,” he said. “The characteristics of the course are quite different in respect to previous editions, so we’ll need to define a new approach. Another change is the lower number of races that I have taken part in this year, but I’m sure I’ve performed very well in training. In the GP Lugano I had very good feelings, and I hope I can continue to go well.”
Diego Ulissi is one of the team’s most exciting young talents, and the stage winner from last year’s Giro d’Italia also goes into the race with personal ambitions. The 22-year-old came close to winning the final stage of last year’s race, but was distanced by then French champion Thomas Voeckler and had to settle for second. This year he hopes to perform as well, and to try and go one better.
“The French race is a considerable test for my ambition,” Ulissi explained. “I worked a lot on Mount Etna and I’m really curious to evaluate my level. Last year I missed out on a stage victory, but now I’m aiming to to get what I’m looking for.”
Lampre-ISD team for Paris-Nice
Leonardo Bertagnolli, Matteo Bono, Grega Bole, Damiano Cunego, Matthew Lloyd, Daniele Pietropolli, Daniele Righi and Diego Ulissi.