Italian ProTour team Lampre-Farnese Vini will have a new title sponsor for the next three years, becoming Lampre-ISD. The Ukranian steel company, currently the title sponsor of Professional Continental team ISD-Neri, now wants to move up to the top level of the sport.
“The Galbusera family, the owners of the Lampre company and presidents of the team, and I were very glad about the interest shown by ISD towards our team,” said Giuseppe Saronni, Lampre-Farnese Vini general manager, “because it is a sign that we have worked in a proper way in the world of cycling.
“Respecting our current sponsors, we carefully evaluated the proposal of the Ukrainian company, appreciating the passion and good ideas shown. So, we reached an agreement that will be refined in the next week, well knowing that we are building something important for cycling.”
All that has been confirmed so far is that the sponsors will be working together from 2011; it has not been announced that the Lampre-Farnese Vini and ISD-Neri teams are to merge. What will happen to the smaller Professional Continental team and its riders has not been announced yet.
It’s likely that the six Ukrainian riders on the team would be targets, as Lampre-Farnese Vini currently has just one Ukrainian rider in Vitaliy Buts. The ProConti team also boasts Italian champion and European Tour leader Giovanni Visconti though, who would likely be of interest to the new team.
Like the Russian Katusha team, ISD also supports a Continental development team in ISD Continental. This team will continue as part of the company’s vision to support Ukrainian cycling.
With both companies involved in steel manufacture, it’s also likely that their collaboration could extend beyond the cycling world.
“The feelings between Lampre and ISD about sporting matters could also be extended to the business field too,” Saronni added.