Cunego back in Almeria

The Lampre-Fondital team is active in Spain at the moment, with Damiano Cunego scheduled to make his season debut in the Classica Almeria on Sunday. He will continue with the Vuelta a Murcia from March 1-5, joined by Paolo Tiralongo, Marco Marzano, Marzio Bruseghin, Giuliano Figueras, Sylvester Szmyd, Gorazd Stangelj and Tadej Valjavec.

Directeur sportif Giuseppe Martinelli explained the targets for Cunego in Spain: "Damiano always started his seasons from Spain; it's the third year that we'll begin in this way. We hope to find warm weather, so we will be able to work in perfect conditions. With Cunego, there will be the team that he will often race with, a group focused on important races. We hope to obtain good results, also considering that the racers are in good shape."

The team had a sniff of success in today's fourth stage of the Vuelta Valenciana, with Patxi Vila finishing fifth on the Alt del Campello, 0'15 behind winner Toni Colom. "Patxi's race was good," said D.S. Guido Bontempi. "He has succeeded in getting into the winning group and was brilliant on the climb. It's a pity he couldn't go for the victory. Petrov was good also, finishing 14th at 39 seconds.

Finally, Lampre-Fondital will race in the GP Chiasso and GP Lugano in Switzerland this weekend with Matteo Bono, Matteo Carrara, Claudio Corioni, David Loosli, Morris Possoni, Marius Sabaliauskas, and Mauro Santambrogio.