Di Luca to lead Liquigas while preparing for Worlds

Giro d'Italia winner Danilo Di Luca will lead his Liquigas squad at this year's Brixia Tour. It's the Italian's first race since taking out the prestigious Grand Tour in May. "I am looking forward to starting again," said Di Luca. "The celebrations followed the victory of the pink jersey, even if exhausting, did not take me away from my next aims. On the contrary - the killer goes on with his typical determination- the victory at the Giro is a starting point, surely not an end."

After a long rest following his hard slog in Italy, Di Luca is now focusing on the World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany in September. Di Luca has already completed a reconnaissance of the World Championship route with some of his teammates."It is the route I was waiting for - hard and selective. Even if the difference in height of 5,000 metres, it seemed to me fastest than expected," he said. "The slight ascent arrival is cut out for me, less for sprinters who could make the final sprint in the wrong way."

Liquigas for Brixia Tour: Leonardo Bertagnolli, Dario Cataldo, Francesco Chicchi, Francesco Failli, Matej Mügerli, Andrea Noè and Alessandro Spezialetti.