Italian Professional Continental team upbeat about coming season despite departure of Italian champion
Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli will begin its preparations for the coming season with a ten-day get together in the Montecatini Terme next month. The Italian Professional Continental team will travel to the Tuscan spa town between December 12th and 21st, with a number of new faces to familiarise themselves with the more established names.
As well as cycling, the riders will spend the time in the gym, the sauna and in the pursuit of “other activities” to “cement” the group together for the upcoming season.
"Ten days together, with lots of familiarity,” explained team manager Luca “Python” Scinto. “If we succeed in our project it is because we strongly believe in the strength of the group and these first stages are the most important and delicate part of the season.
“Here we lay the foundations of our strength,” he continued, “and so every evening we will have meetings, we will be together, we will watch videos. Those will be ten days of work not only in cycling."
The ProConti team sees a number of changes to its roster for 2012; with arguably the biggest-name departure that of two-time Italian champion Giovanni Visconti. Having spent the last three years with the second division team since his transfer from Quick Step, the 28-year-old from Turin will be aiming for the big time once more with Spanish WorldTour team Movistar.
Replacing Visconti in the Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli jersey will be his predecessor in the tricolore jersey Filippo Pozzato, who is looking to recreate his glory days after an indifferent spell at Katusha. Also rumoured – but so far unconfirmed – to be joining the flouro-yellow and black team is Franco Pellizotti, although he remains suspended due to irregularities in his biological passport until May 3rd, just two days before next year’s Giro d’Italia.