The Farnese Vini – Neri Sottoli team is off to a good start. Sprinter Andrea Guardini won the first two stages of the Tour of Langkawi. The team received three precious race invitations, to the RCS-organized races Monte Paschi Strade Bianche, Tirreno - Adriatico and Milano-Sanremo. This follows the November invitation to the Giro d'Italia. Farnese has also received invitations to Paris - Roubaix, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
The successor of the ISD-Neri squad under Team Director Luca Scinto is quite happy with the development early into 2011. "This is a wonderful month for us. We are rewarded for our commitment and the cycling project that we have been building for two years," Scinto says. "Invitations to these classics will allow us to race at the highest level. We are ready to compete with the best cyclists in the world."
Scinto is certain that the team is a force to reckon with. "I'm sure we'll know how to put ourselves into the heat of the action and we can be competitive with [Giovanni] Visconti and our other leaders. The group that we have built is very compact, and these news have sparked even more desire in all our athletes to do well."
The team will now focus on a strong spring, hoping to get some good results. Italian Champion Giovanni Visconti is already euphoric for the invitations received by the team. He was with predecessor ISD Neri and was quite disappointed to have missed the 2010 Giro d'Italia. "In the past I participated in many classics, but to do this with the tricolore jersey and with Farnese Neri will be a great emotion, because we have to fight all together to have the confidence of the organizers. I am ready to contend with the best cyclists in the world, and I'm sure I can be competitive. I just have to continue working well, as I did until now."
Visconti raced for Quick Step in 2007 and 2008, but took a step back when joining the ISD Neri team in 2009. The specialist for Italian Championships (he won in 2010 and 2007 and was second in 2008) will be happy to get to race the Giro again, after 2009. Two years ago, he finished seventh in the mountains classification in the Corsa Rosa.