Cycling: 2015 was a good year for the Italian team of Lampre-Merida. Seven stage wins at Grand Tours and numerous other victories earned the team twelfth place in the WorldTour rankings. In 2016, the conditions are good for repeating this achievement or even improving it.
Lampre-Merida overview
At the end of the year, the Italian team from Lampre-Merida ended up in 12th place in the WorldTour rankings and is thus slowly climbing out of the midfield towards the top (the racing team has regularly ranked 14th in previous years). So those responsible can be quite satisfied with the performance of the drivers – in addition to a few smaller races, the team was also able to celebrate seven Grand Tour victories in 2015.
With stage wins at the Tour of Oman, the Tour of Turkey and Paris-Nice the Italian team started the season very well. Rafael Valls in particular was in good form – Sacha Modolo and Diego Ulissi also showed promising performances and seemed well prepared for the Giro, which has always been the big highlight of the season for the Italian team. At the end of the three weeks through Italy there were four day wins and Sacha Modolo in particular provided two sprint wins in Lugano and Jesolo for the joy of the team.
This was followed by a day win each at the Dauphiné and the Tour de Suisse and a rather mixed Tour de France from the perspective of Lampre-Merida. Spaniard Ruben Plaza rode the 16th stage as a soloist to the day's victory – The Italian racing team was denied further stage successes at the Grand Boucle 2015. At the end of the season left Nelson Oliveira and again RubenPlaza follow a stage win.
So where is the journey going for Lampre-Merida 2016? The performance of the previous season was extremely promising and certainly a good basis for further successes this season. With the two Iberians Nelson Oliveira (to Movistar) and Ruben Plaza (to Orica-GreenEdge), however, the team loses two of its strongest riders, who were also responsible for almost half of the Grand Tour successes in 2015. Can the newcomers Louis Meintjes and Matej Mohoric make up for the loss in quality? Both the South African Meintjes and the Slovenian Mohoric are still waiting for their first Grand Tour success - but maybe that will change in 2016 in the colors of Lampre-Merida.
Lampre Merida – Transfers
Departures: Niccolo Bonifazio (Trek), Ruben Plaza (Orica-GreenEdge), Filippo Pozzato (Southeast), Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Max Richeze (Etixx-Quick Step), Jose Serpa (Orgullo Antiqueno), Rafa Valls (Lotto-Soudal)
Additions: Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar), Simone Consonni (Neo), Marko Kump (Adria Mobil), Louis Meintjes (MTN-Qhubeka), Matej Mohoric (Cannondale-Garmin), Simone Petilli (Neo), Edward Ravasi (Neo), Federico Zurlo ( United Healthcare)
Lampre-Merida - Team bikes and equipment
team bike: As in 2015, the Lampre pros will be on the road with the two top-of-the-line Merida bikes, the Merida Scultura and the Merida Reacto. The new Scultura only celebrated its premiere last year – incidentally, it was one day after Stage success for Lampre pro Polanc at Giro presented to the public – that's what we call good timing. We have already seen the qualities of the Scultura road model in detail in the Velomotion test convince. In the time trial, the pros will take their place on the Merida Warp.
components: The drive on the Lampre-Merida team bikes consists of a Shimano / Rotor mix. While gears, brakes and grips come from the specialists from Japan, the Italian team relies on the expertise of Rotor for cranks and power measurement. Whether the professionals presented in the coming season on the 2015, hydraulic Rotor UN Group will fall back? There are still no such signs as there are with the Rotor colleagues from Dimension Data. As in previous years, the wheels come from the Italian manufacturer Fulcrum.
disc brakes: Although Shimano and Rotor are outfitters who could supply the appropriate brake systems and Fulcrum now also offers suitable wheels, we will probably only rarely see Lampre-Merida pros with disc brakes in 2016, as Merida does not yet have a corresponding road bike in its range. Neither the Scultura nor the Reacto are available in a disc version - only the endurance bike Merida Ride is available with disc brakes and is possibly an option for one or the other race with long cobblestone sections.