Guarnieri begins new Astana adventure
Astana | January 16, 2012
Jacopo Guarnieri begins a new adventure this week in the Tour Down Under. After years with team Liquigas, the Italian will lead Astana in the sprints this year.
"Astana gave me the best offer, in terms of season schedule and for space for sprints," explained Guarnieri. "It's a good choice for my future, for sure for the next two years of my contract."
The 24-year-old sprinter steadily improved over the last three years in Liquigas, winning stages in the Tour of Poland and last year, a stage in the Three Days of De Panne.
Over the winter, he made many changes to prepare for his new team. As with Tour de France winner Cadel Evans, he trains under the watchful eye of Andrea Morelli at the Mapei centre in Northern Italy.
In addition, Guarnieri began using Specialized bikes. He received his Tarmac SL4 over the winter and will ride it in anger for the first time at the Tour Down Under.
He admitted that it will not be an easy start in Down Under since he has not raced since August at the Vattenfall Cyclassics in Hamburg. Back in Europe, though, he expects to find his legs in the Tour of Méditerranéen and Sardegna. These races will allow him to be at the top of his game for the spring classics, including his dream race, Paris-Roubaix.
"I love the classics," he added. "You really need experience, a lot of years of racing to have a good chance in Roubaix. Last year, I was going well until everything fell apart in a space of 10 kilometres: I broke my wheel, my derailleur! My race finished there, before the Arenberg Forest. I will be ready in the coming years to have a chance to win my dream race."
Allan Davis led the team in the sprints over the last two years, but this year joined home team, Australia's GreenEDGE. Guarnieri said that he expects to have better luck than Davis did in team Astana. For this year the team made several changes in order to bring in more wins in one-day races and stages in tours, including signing Guarnieri, Borut Bozic and Simone Ponzi.
"It's different for everyone, sometimes it's not about training, and it's about the team you find. I feel I am in good condition and have a good team around me, it feels like the right atmosphere. The team is trying to up the number of wins, not only thinking about the Grand Tours with Alexander Vinokourov."
He said the rest is up to him.
"I need to work to prove that I deserve dedicated riders, but Astana already given me the freedom to try in the sprints and be its leader in certain races."