Basso, Nibali and Sagan continue to lead Italian team
Spearheaded once again by the trio of Ivan Basso, Vincenzo Nibali and talented young rider Peter Sagan, the Liquigas-Cannondale team has finalised its lineup for 2012, and will field 29 riders in all.
A total of 23 riders are staying on board, with that trio being joined by the Italians Elia Viviani, Daniel Oss, Eros Capecchi, Valerio Agnoli, Damiano Caruso, Mauro Da Dalto, Tiziano Dall’Antonia, Paolo Longo Borghini, Alan Marangoni, Fabio Sabatini, Cristiano Salerno and Alessandro Vanotti, Polish riders Maciej Bodnar, Maciej Paterski and Sylwester Szmyd, the Americans Timmy Duggan and Ted King; plus Kristijan Koren (Slovenia), Dominik Nerz (Germany) and the Slovakian Juraj Sagan.
Six new competitors are joining the team, with four of those being Italian. Federico Canuti and Daniele Ratto have come across, as have the neo-pros Stefano Agostini and Moreno Moser. Also coming on board are the Colombians Josè Sarmiento and Carlos Alberto Betancur.
The latter is resolving a contract issue and will consequently miss the first training camps at Passo San Pellegrino and in Sardinia.
According to Roberto Amadio, one big target was to retain riders. This will ensure consistency and make sure that the incoming namess will have plenty of experience to guide them.
“The first goal we set for ourselves when planning for 2012 was to confirm as much of the team from last year as we could as it was already competitive,” he said. “We’ve achieved our aim and also selected some dependable, young riders, so now we can look to next season with plenty of ambition.”