Andrea Guardini to mark his Milan-San Remo debut
After having a successful term with Team Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli in 2011, Andrea Guardini is all set to the longest professional one-day race, the Milan-San Remo in the season ahead.
The cyclist marked his professional debut with Team Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli in 2011 and served the team through 2012 season.
He bagged several victories in the current season including overall wins at the Tour de Langkawi (also won six stages) and the Tour of Qinghai Lake (also won three stages) along with a stage victory at the Giro d’Italia 2012.
Guardini’s 2012 performance was good enough to catch the eye of all the World Tour teams and he was approached by several teams.
Recalling his compatriot and the former Italian cyclist Mario Cipollini, Guardini cited that it took Cipollini fourteen years to win the Milan-San Remo, which is an example of how difficult the one-day Italian race is.
He an offer from the Kazakhstani side and will be seen in Team Astana colours in the 2013-14 seasons.
Guardini noted that the main reason behind leaving his former side was not because of the financial benefits but due to professional gains that comes with a World Tour team.
A World Tour team receives automatic invitations to all the World Tour races all through the season whereas; the professional continental teams have to rely on a wild-card entry to make an appearance at those races.
“If it was just for my money, I would have stayed at Farnese, but [Giuseppe] Martinelli convinced me to change and to test myself in other races,” Andrea cited.
Despite the lack of experience, the 23-year-old will also be given some leadership opportunities and he is expected to head the team at the UCI Inaugural event, the Santos Tour Down Under 2012.
“I’ll have some space from the first races and I have to get around to understanding that they believe in me a lot. I have to win to show that I’m up there and to earn the support of my teammates,” he added.
“In 2012, I realised two dreams – participating in the Giro and winning a stage. There are a lot of stages before the Tour, but you go a long way with short steps,” Guardini said of his Tour de France 2012 appearance.
Team Astana has signed the Italian for two seasons and it will be interesting to see if he manages to find the right form early on the 2013 season to help the new team with a kind of start they are after.
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