The Italian Lampre-Farnese Vini team has travelled to Paris, from where it will fly to Canada on Tuesday to take part in the two new ProTour races at the weekend. Both the GP Québec and GP Montréal are expected to be tough races and so the team is banking on the talents of three-time Giro di Lombardia winner Damiano Cunego.
“The team is ready to face this new experience,” said Valerio Tebaldi, Lampre-Farnese Vini sport director. “It will be a good boost for our cyclists to take part in new races. The courses of both races seem to be tough, so I think that [Damiano] Cunego will have the chances to be protagonist.”
Although much of the team is currently in Spain, racing the Vuelta a España, the blue and fuchsia team is still sending a strong line-up to Canada; there are other riders whom Tebaldi feels could do well.
“The races are interesting also for [Francesco] Gavazzi,” he said, “who's in a good period of form, and [Simon] Spilak, who’s usually at ease on such tough courses.
“The energy of [Diego] Ulissi, [Enrico] Magazzini, [Simone] Ponzi, [Alfredo] Balloni and [David] Loosli will be very useful," he added.
The GP Québec and GP Montréal will be the first races in North America to be part of the International Cycling Union (UCI) flagship ProTour series.
Lampre-Farnese Vini to GP Québec and GP Montréal:
Alfredo Balloni, Damiano Cunego, Francesco Gavazzi, David Loosli, Enrico Magazzini, Simone Ponzi, Simon Spilak and Diego Ulissi.