Lampre/NGC 2010 - Blue and Fucsia Team Adds Talent
The team of Mario Galbusera  and Giuseppe Saronni add three new riders to their program and resign Francesco Gavazzi to join Damiano Cunego and Alessandro Petacchi et. al.

 As the season ends and Lampre-NGC's general manager Saronni is reaching agreements with riders that will strengthen blue-fucsia team next year. The first important athlete that will join the group sponsored by patron Galbusera is Daniele Pietropolli, a cyclist born in Bussolengo (Verona) in 1980 and a professional rider since 2003.

At174 cm in height and 61 kg, "Pietro" (his nickname) so far has 6 victories as a pro, adding 4 successes to his account during the 2009 season  while with LPR Brakes: a stage and the overall victory in the early season Giro della Provincia di Grosseto and team time trial and overall in Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda.

2009 Giro Provincia di Grosseto: Stage 3 and GC Winner Daniele Pietropolli 
Photo © 2009 Fotoreporter Sirotti

"Next year will be my eighth as pro and I'll join an important team like Lampre: I hope this will be the chance that will make me become a quality rider", Pietropolli said.

Saronni  commented, "Daniele is a complete cyclist who can realize good performances on climbs and who can also be competitive in selected sprints. Thanks to these qualities he'll be useful for our team: he will support the captains and he will be also able to go in search for personal victories."
Video interview with Daniele Pietropolli.

 Lorenzo Bernucci
Another important rider joins blue-fucsia team for 2010 season: he's Lorenzo Bernucci, born in Sarzano (La Spezia) in 1979.
Bernucci, 1,83 m of height and weighing in at 76 kg, is an athletic cyclist who turned pro in 2002. Only one victory in his career; but he took that prestigious win in the Annecy stage of Tour de France in 2005.

Lorenzo Bernucci Photo © 2009 Lampre/NGC

Lampre chose Bernucci because of his qualities of reliability and versatility that will allow him to realize excellent performances in the northern classics and to support of Alessandro Petacchi in the sprints.

As underlined by Giuseppe Saronni: "Lorenzo's skills will prove to be useful in many different situations and that is the main value he brings as a multi-talented rider. That's why we decided to sign him: we hope to see good performances in the classics and in support for  of victories in the sprints with Alessandro Petacchi."

Mario Galbusera, Diego Ulissi and Giuseppe Saronni  pose for a photo in front of the Lampre/NGC fleet. Photo © 2009 Lampre/NGC

Grega Bole
Not the only youngster with talent in Lampre's future. In 2010 in blue-fucsia there will be Grega Bole also, a Slovenian cyclist with very good qualities that will be perfect for the new idea by general manager Saronni of a team characterized by young athletes.

Bole was born in Jesenice, Slovenia on 13 August 1985 and, after having raced in Slovenian youth cycling teams this year and obtained two victories (Aviles stage in Volta Asturies and Gp Nobili Rubinetterie). During 2009  Bole rode for Adria Mobil, a team that gave to Lampre another very good cyclist as Simon Spilak.

"Milan Erzen, director in Adria Mobil, suggested to us to sign Bole and we accepted his suggestion because we have very good relationship with that team knowing that their athletes are very strong and reliable - Fabrizio Bontempi, Lampre-NGC's sport director, said - Anyway, we saw his qualities during this season and we know that he'll be an important cyclist for us in the races of the North. In addition, thanks to his speed, he'll have chance of victories".

 Francesco Gavazzi Extends Contract to 2011
Francesco Gavazzi renewed the contract: one of the most important riders for Lampre-NGC for the future has signed a new agreement with blu-fucsia team until 2011.

Gavazzi, born in Morbegno in 1984, became pro in 2007 wearing blu-fucsia colours in general manager Saronni's team. Francesco has improved his quality, reaching in this season an important maturity level.

Francesco Gavazzi  Photo © 2009 Lampre/NGC

In 2009 he has obtained 7 third places in prestigious races (Vuelta Pais Vasco, Giro d'Italia, Tour de Suisse, Tour de Pologne, Eneco Tour), battling for the victory against the best riders.

"We always believed in Francesco's talent and in these three years as a pro he went on improving his talents - Saronni explained - In this season he reached a very important level and he competed for top victories. Gavazzi is a young athlete we think could give us great things and so we'll put our trust on him for the future, because we think he could do even better in order to aim and win important victories."

Gavazzi is also very satisfied: "I'm happy I can live next years wearing blu-fucsia colours, in an ideal team to improve as cyclist: I always felt the trust in me by the whole team and the necessary motivations never failed. It's fantastic to be part of a project that aim to increase the value and qualities of youngsters, it will be interesting trying to win riding with cyclists of  passion and character."

• Discuss the sport with fans from around the world on the Daily Peloton Forums & Chat Room.
• Sponsor the Daily Peloton - advertise your product - contact us
• Would you like to try your hand at writing about the sport? contact us.
• Link your site or blog to  www.dailypeloton.com