After three seasons with the Astana team, Francesco Gavazzi will return to an Italian team for 2015 after signing a one-year contract with Neri Sottoli.
Gavazzi, 30, won a stage of the Vuelta a España in 2011 when he was with Lampre, but went nearly winless during his three seasons with Astana, chalking up only a stage of the 2012 Tour of Beijing while racing for them.
The Italian told Tuttobiciweb that the contract with the team of Luca Scinto is only for a year, "to get to know each other," he said. "If I am happy, and if Neri Sottoli are pleased with me, we'll take a longer contract."
Polish Hour Record for Andrzej Bartkiewicz
23-year-old Andrzej Bartkiewicz may not have cracked the official UCI Hour Record, but the Polish rider secured his country's record today on the 250m velodrome in Pruszkow by riding 47.618 kilometers over sixty minutes.
Bartkiewicz fell short of Matthias Brändle's 51.852 kilometer record, but broke the old Polish mark set by Mieczyslaw Nowicki in 1973 of 42.231 km.
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Malori not interested in the hour record
Adriano Malori is not interested in attempting to break the hour record, La Gazetta dello Sport reported. The Movistar rider does not intend to spend the time trying to top the mark set by Brändle last month.
"I've been asked this a lot," Malori said. "It is not something that is on my horizon. I have the utmost respect for those who try and for what the record represents," but said he prefers to focus on the road season ahead.
"I do not want to sacrifice the preparation for a season on the road that is going to be crucial, because I am at the end of my contract with Movistar and want to take more steps forward."
Suspended sentence for Levarlet
Cofidis rider Guillaume Levarlet was handed a one year suspended sentence on Thursday in Beauvais, for charges relating to the automobile accident which claimed the life of his fellow Frenchman Arnaud Coyot.
In November of 2013, Levarlet was driving Coyot and Sebastian Minard from a nightclub in Beauvais when, at 6:30am, he swerved off the road and hit a barrier.
Prosecutors had requested an 18 month suspended sentence.
