Three-time winner to sit out race of the falling leaves as Daniele Pietropolli leads the team
With Damiano Cunego calling a halt to his disappointing season at last month’s Giro di Toscana, the Lampre-Farnese Vini team will line up at Saturday’s Giro di Lombardia without its three-time winner. Instead, the team will be led there, and at Thursday’s Giro del Piemonte, by 30-year-old Daniele Pietropolli, who finished third in Sunday’s GP Beghelli.
“The final part of the course of Giro del Piemonte will be tough and suitable for the characteristics of Pietropolli, so he’ll be our captain,” said team manager Fabrizio Bontempi. “As alternatives, in the team there will be [Francesco] Gavazzi and [Diego] Ulissi, while all the other blue-fuchsia athletes will be ready to join the eventual attacks in the early part of the race.”
The team will start the Giro di Lombardia with a similar team but a different director with Maurizio Piovani, who was behind the wheel for Cunego’s 2007 and 2008 victories, controlling things. According to Piovani, the big change to the course, which will climb the Colma di Sormano after the Madonna del Ghisallo, will make for an unpredictable finale.
“The new course is tougher than the old one and so the race will be very uncertain,” he said. “Pietropolli is in good condition and so he’ll aim to obtain a good result, while Gavazzi is in a decreasing condition after the World Championship and so we’ll rely on Ulissi and [Manuele] Mori as alternatives. [Andrey] Kashechkin will be the quality rider that can join attacks, while [Marco] Marzano, [Enrico] Magazzini and [Daniele] Righi will be close to the team captain.”
Lampre-Farnese Vini team for Giro de Piemonte:
Mauro Da Dalto, Francesco Gavazzi, Andrey Kashechkin, Adriao Malori, Manuele Mori, Daniele Pietropolli, Daniele Righi and Diego Ulissi.
Lampre-Farnese Vini team for Giro di Lombardia:
Francesco Gavazzi, Andrey Kashechkin, Enrico Magazzini, Marco Marzano, Manuele Mori, Francesco Pietropolli, Daniele Righi and Diego Ulissi.