The Liquigas-Doimo team is going with young talents Roman Kreuziger and Vincenzo Nibali for the Ardennes trio of the Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The team is giving veteran Franco Pellizotti a chance to test his form after a long period of training, but say it will be in a supporting role.
"We’re confident that we will be a protagonist," explained sports director Alberto Volpi. "To achieve our goal we have chosen a group of riders that are in good condition.
"Our leaders Kreuziger and Nibali have the right characteristics for these races and could expect to have a great result."
While both riders are young, Nibali and Kreuziger rode to a strong 7th and 9th overall respectively in last year's Tour de France. Kreuziger has already started off his season well by riding to 4th overall in Paris-Nice to secure the best young riders jersey, and taking a stage along with the overall victory in the Giro di Sardegna. Nibali started off the year well with an overall victory in the Tour de San Luis, and the rode to 8th overall in Tirreno-Adriatico.
"Even though their both at a young age they have good experience. It's an important factor to know how ride the Classics and how obtain a prestigious result."
The Italian team has the difficult task of trying to balance leadership opportunities within the team. With four legitimate general classification contenders that include Ivan Basso, Kreuziger, Nibali and Pellizotti, every performance could prove important in determining the pecking order within the team.
Amstel Gold Race lineup:
Roman Kreuziger, Vincenzo Nibali, Francesco Bellotti, Mauro Finetto, Kristjan Koren, Manuel Quinziato, Ivan Santaromita and Frederik Willems
Flèche Wallonne lineup:
Roman Kreuziger, Vincenzo Nibali, Francesco Bellotti, Mauro Finetto, Kristjan Koren, Ivan Santaromita and Frederik Willems
Liège-Bastogne-Liège lineup:
Roman Kreuziger, Vincenzo Nibali, Franco Pellizotti, Valerio Agnoli, Francesco Bellotti, Mauro Finetto, Ivan Santaromita and Frederik Willems