Cannondale Pro Cycling continues to stack up kilometers as the team takes over Italy. The next stage will bring the team to the Roma Maxima, a 195 km road race around and inside the Eternal City scheduled on Sunday, March the 9th.

 

Team captain Ivan Basso will be at the start of the esteemed Roma Maxima to work on conditioning and prepare himself for his first big goal of the season - Tirreno-Adriatico.

 

"I was really encouraged by my performance in Lugano. I finished in the lead group, my legs answered as expected, and my race rhythm didn't suffer," said Basso. "Although the finale of Roma Maxima does not suit my riding style, I know that I will play an important role in the race for my teammates."

 

The rosterselected to race Roma Maxima with Basso include Daniele Ratto, the fastest finisher among the eight attending riders who will lead the bunch sprint, along withthree domestiques Paolo Longo Borghini, José Sarmiento and Juraj Sagan, and two of the Green Machine's younger riders Matej Mohoric and Alberto Bettiol who are continuing to learn as they move forward in professional cycling.

 

"The route is more demanding in the central part of the race than at the finish. Succeeding in a bunch sprint, big or small, is probable. If we follow last year's race, a breakaway may be key as well," said Directeur Sportif Biagio Conte, who will lead the team in Rome. "Our first goal will be to keep the competition at bay and have as many riders as possible leading into the finale."