Tour of Flanders winner Salvatore Puccio joins Team Sky for 2012 – Cycling News
After Luke Rowe signed a two year contract with Team Sky a second neo-pro has joined the team as Under-23 Tour of Flanders 2011 winner Salvatore Puccio has been enrolled in the squad for coming seasons.
The Italian has also won a stage at the Toscana-Coppa delle Nazioni and also showed top performances at the GP Palio del Recioto, Baby Giro and Giro del Belvedere di Villa di Cordignano.
Team Sky’s manager David Brailsford mentioned that young players coming from Italy are immensely talented and Salvatore is no exception as he commented about his role in the team, “Not only will he have plenty to offer us in stage races throughout the season,
he is also equally comfortable toughing it out in the one-day Classics and his grit and determination make him a hugely exciting prospect for the future.”
The 22-year-old will be joining his countrymen in the team including Morris Possoni, Dario Ciono and Davide Appollonio as he mentioned that signing with Team Sky is just a like a dream come true for him as a team as strong as Sky is the first choice for
any young cyclist and he is really moved by the recent heights the team has achieved.
Salvatore believed that it will be a great experience to work with the experienced cyclists in his new team especially with Oscar Freire who he always looked up as his hero, “My hero is Oscar Freire and it would be great to be the same type of rider as him.
I know I have a long way to go through until I am at the level-it’s a long way to the top but with Team Sky I hope to get there,” Puccio mentioned.
Puccio stated that he will train harder with his new team and will make sure that he comes out as a better rider and he was determined that he can perform really well within the team especially at the classics to begin with. He also mentioned that the Italian
rider Davide Appollonio is his close friend and before signing with Team Sky he helped him clarify all the ambiguities.
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