Set to be once again captained by Ivan Basso, Vincenzo Nibali and Peter Sagan, who all have existing contracts, the Liquigas Cannondale team has announced that six riders will have their current deals extended. It has renewed terms with Elia Viviani, Simone Ponzi, Eros Capecchi, Maciej Bodnar, Maciej Paterski, Fabio Sabatini, and Davide Cimolai; the team has however not yet made it clear if these will be for one year or more.
Aside from Basso, Nibali and Sagan, it names thirteen others who have current contracts. These are Valerio Agnoli, Damiano Caruso, Mauro Da Dalto, American rider Ted King, Kristijan Koren, Paolo Longo Borghini, Alan Marangoni, the German Dominik Nerz, Daniel Oss, the Slovak Juraj Sagan, Cristiano Salerno, the Polish Sylwester Szmyd and Alessandro Vanotti.
King broke his collarbone during the Philadelphia International Cycling Championship in June, and said that he is determined to make up for lost time. “I'm on two years with Liquigas-Cannondale so with some good results here in 2011 mixed with injury, I'm looking forward to closing out 2011 on a really high note. Then smashing 2012 to pieces,” King told VeloNation last week.
Team manager Roberto Amadio is pleased with how the signings have been doing, and expects to fill the remain slots soon. “We’ve accomplished our goal of re-signing most of the winning group from the past couple of years,” he explained. “Now we just need to complete the team. We’ve spoken with the directeurs sportifs and identified the other riders needed for 2012: these signings will be finalised shortly and then we’ll announce our selections.”
He’s pleased to continue along the same lines as they have been doing, believing that they have the right balance on the team. “We’ve built up a strong, close-knit group over the past few years that has given and continues to give great satisfaction,” he continued. “We’ve focused on establishing our captains, strengthening the team with experience and launching talented youngsters. This last aspect demands time and patience in the way you manage a team and our organisation is extremely proud of our work with young riders.”
One of those he is referring to is the 2010 Vuelta a España winner, who was third in this year’s Giro d’Italia and represents one of the big hopes for the future. “Nibali is a brilliant example of this approach: gradual and comprehensive growth that is obviously combined with great talent and produces excellent results,” he said. “2012 could well be the year when many of our talented riders raise their game to the next level: so our first thought is to re-sign them.”
Basso won the 2010 Giro d’Italia and was eighth in the year’s Tour de France. Sagan is one of the most promising young riders in the sport and last week won the Tour of Poland.