Savoldelli to leave Astana for LPR

Paolo Savoldelli, winner of the 2002 and 2005 Giro d'Italia, is set to leave Astana and sign for Team LPR. The 34 year-old Italian rider from Bergamo already has an agreement with the team's new Team Manager, Fabio Bordonali, that will be formalized in the coming days, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

'Il Falco Bergamasco' will leave ProTour Team Astana where he would have been linked again with Belgian Johan Bruyneel, the incoming team manager. Savoldelli was contractually linked with Marc Biver, the former leader of Astana, who during this season was faced with the doping scandals of Matthias Kessler, Alexander Vinokourov and Andrey Kashechkin.

Bordonali, the ex-team manager of Tenax, acquired the management of Team LPR from Davide Boifava, who for now is leaving the upper echelons of cycling. Even though the team does not have invites to the biggest races because it is a second tier team – or Professional Continental – it is likely to be the third most important Italian team after Liquigas and Lampre-Fondital (Milram will ride with a German or Dutch ProTour license in 2008).

In the next days, Bordonali has on his task list the bicycle sponsorship renewal of Pinarello – the Treviso-based company might also become a secondary title sponsor.