Liquigas-Doimo and AG2R announce 2011 signings

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The Liquigas-Doimo team has announced the arrival of four new riders for the 2011 season. Italians Eros Capecchi, Damiano Caruso, Paolo Longo Borghini and Cristiano Salerno have signed up for next year.

Capecchi returns to the squad where he began his career in 2006. Still only 24 years of age, he completed his first Tour de France for Footon-Servetto this summer although he is without a win since taking the Euskal Bizikleta stage race in 2008.

“Capecchi’s is a welcome return,” said Liquigas-Doimo manager Roberto Amadio. “He’s a guy with great qualities, and with the maturity he’s gained now, he could carve out an important niche for himself.”

Amadio described the arrival of 29-year-old Paolo Longo Borghini from ISD-Neri as a “guaranteed contribution to the experience of the team.”

De Rosa-Stac Plastic duo Damiano Caruso and Cristiano Salerno have also moved to Liquigas-Doimo. Caruso was Italian Under 23 champion in 2008 and followed that up with a stage win at the Girobio in 2009. Salerno turned professional with Tenax in 2006 and enjoyed his greatest success to date at this year’s Tour of Japan, where he took two stages and the overall classification.

“Caruso is a young rider who has shown his qualities right from his first year as a professional,” Amadio said. “Salerno impressed us with his tenacity and his spirit of sacrifice, as well as with his talent on the bike.”

Meanwhile, another rider leaving De Rosa-Stac Plastic is Matteo Montaguti. The 26-year-old has signed a one-year deal with AG2R-La Mondiale, where he will join his fellow Italian Rinaldo Nocentini. A rider with a strong track pedigree, Montaguti demonstrated his mettle on the road by winning the Giro della Provincia di Reggio Calabria this season.