Riccò trains in Tuscany

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Riccardo Riccò (Vacansoleil-DCM) escaped the cold weather near his home in Modena to train on the Tuscan coast during the Christmas period. The Italian rider accepted an invitation from the organisers of the G.P. Camaiore to train in the Versilia area in recent days.

“It was a rise in temperature of at least ten degrees compared to the conditions I faced on the roads at home,” Riccò explained to Tuttobiciweb.it. “It was an opportunity that I took gladly and one that allowed me to get in some profitable training at a little over a month from my competitive start to the season.”

Riccò’s Vacansoleil team successfully secured a ProTeam licence for 2011, meaning that the Italian is set to return to the major tours for the first time since he tested positive for CERA at the 2008 Tour de France. While Riccò seems certain to ride the Giro d’Italia in May, he explained that his calendar for the second half of the season has not yet been drawn up.

“The programme for next season hasn’t been defined yet, especially the second part of the season, after the Giro d’Italia,” Riccò explained. “I will talk about it with the team management at the next training camp that starts on January 10 in Spain.”

One race that may well feature in Riccò’s summer plans is the G.P. Camaiore. It was one of his final races in Ceramica Flaminia colours in 2010 ahead of his late-season switch to Vacansoleil, and he is keen to compete again in the coming season.

“Certainly, the GP Camaiore has a very testing course and one that is suit to my characteristics,” he said. “For my part, I’ll do all I can to be at the start.”