Lampre names six for Cunego at the Tour de France

By Jean-François Quénet in Alanya

While most of the teams are busy selecting their riders for the Tour of Italy starting in three weeks, Lampre has already designated most of their men for the Tour de France whose Grand Départ is scheduled in Brest on July 5.

It's confirmed that Damiano Cunego will not take part in the Giro, a race he won in 2004, but he'll focus only on the Tour de France this year. Classic star Alessandro Ballan who already came second in a stage of the Grande Boucle in Carcassonne in 2006 will once again save his strength for July, a plan that made him a winner of the Hamburg Classic last year.

Lampre will also line up their sprinter Danilo Napolitano, Marco Marzano, Daniele Righi, Paolo Tiralongo and 'Patxi' Vila. "We clearly aim at winning the overall classification of the Tour de France with Cunego this year," directeur sportif Bruno Vicino said on the start line of the 7th stage of the Presidential Tour of Turkey in Antalya. Two other Lampre riders have yet to be chosen.