Giovanni Visconti to stay on with ISD-Neri in 2011
Italian rider Giovanni Visconti, two-time winner of the Italian National Road Race Championships, will continue to ride for ISD-Neri during 2011 after having considered switching to a UCI ProTour team at the end of this season.
ISD holds a ProContinental licence, which means the team, for whom Visconti has ridden since last year, cannot partake in the designated ProTour races each season.
In 2004, the Grand Tours decided to break free from the ProTour, meaning any team can be invited to partake in the Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana or Giro d'Italia. ISD were invited to the latter in 2009, but did not start this year's edition of the Giro.
"I was at the point of saying 'enough, I’m leaving,'" Visconti told La Gazzetta dello Sport about his current team's absence from some of the biggest events on the cycling calendar. "I went through days of doubts and uncertainties, and of questions without
response, until I decided to stay with ISD for another year, counting on being able to ride the races organised by RCS Sport, from Tirreno-Adriatico to the Tour of Lombardy, and obviously the Giro d’Italia."
Impressed at the Italian Nationals
In 2010, Visconti's greatest success came at the Nationals, where he added his second title since 2007.
"It was the end of a day when everything went perfectly. I don’t want to seem presumptuous but I was so strong that day, I could have gone on and done another lap of the circuit."
The 27-year-old, who had to pull out of this year's Tirreno-Adriatico with a nerve problem and failed to make an impact at the Tour of Lombardy on 16 October, will continue to lead ISD during next season.
"It has never been a burden to me, but rather it motivates me,” Visconti said about his role at the team. “I feel like a leader. I know that a champion wins more than I have done, but the victories will come."
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