Furlan hopes Paris-Tours result will secure new contract

Angelo Furlan is hoping his second place at Paris-Tours at the weekend will help save his professional career, as the rider is without a contract for 2011. Furlan rode with Italy’s Lampre-Farnese Vini ProTour squad this season but says the squad didn’t trust him and that few starts has meant even less results to earn him a deal for next season.

“Lampre has signed seven Ukrainians [for next year] and I’ve been told there’s no more space for me,” the 33-year-old explained. “My problem is that I haven’t raced a lot this year and I need to race a lot to perform. Lampre hasn’t trust me.

“I’d like to get a start in a foreign team and I hope to find one like Crédit Agricole, where I’ve spent the two most beautiful years of my life,” he added. “That was a team with no stress, where the management was very happy in case of winning but if not the atmosphere remained serene.”

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Lampre- Farnese Vini will become Lampre-ISD next year, with the Ukrainian sponsor bringing seven Ukrainian riders with it.

Furlan finished second to Oscar Freire Gomez (Rabobank) as the French race arrived on the Avenue de Grammont. The Italian rider held off Belgian Gert Steegmans (Team Radioshack) for second place, one of his best results this year.

“I believed I’d win, I’ve dreamt of it and I needed it,” Furlan told Cyclingnews. “If there wasn’t this head wind, I would have won because I came out of the Vuelta with good form. I chose to open the sprint with 300 metres to go because you need to take risks to win.

“It’s no shame to loose to a champion like Freire,” he added. “Second to him equals winning but I’m a bit disappointed to have been so close to the win and not make it.”

Furlan finished runner-up on two stages of the International Presidency Turkey Tour in April, which were his previous best finishes this season.