Italian Team Joins Strong Lineup For 2011 An Post Rás

One year after making its debut in the race, the Italy – D'Angelo Antenucci Team Nippo squad will return to An Post Rás determined to chase overall success, and to also pick up as many stage victories as it can.

The powerful Continental-level team will again be managed by Alberto Elli, who held the yellow jersey for four days in the 2000 Tour de France. He will be one of the most experienced team directors in the race, and will guide the riders tactically towards success.

Elli states that the team’s general classification hope is likely to be Henry Frusto, with Alexander Zhdanov also a contender. “Henry is a climber and has already got good results in South Africa and in Taiwan,”
he said, the latter mention referring to his eighth on a stage and 17th overall in the Tour de Taiwan.

Zhdanov is a Russian neo pro and is, according to Elli, someone with good potential. “He is a strong time trial rider and very good in stage races such as the An Post Rás,” he said. “He will try to win a stage plus fight for the overall.”

The team sprinter Bernardo Riccio has been riding strongly and looks certain to be in thick of the fight for stages plus the points classification. The Italian notched up two stage victories in the Tour of South Africa this year, and was also fourth on a stage of the Tour de San Luis.

The likely line-up is completed by the experienced pro Giuseppe Muraglia and the new professional Kouhei Uchima.

Elli said that it planned to take things seriously in preparation and in the race itself. “We will have a training camp in the South of Italy beforehand,” he said. “Once we are in Ireland, the team goal will be to win stages and try to get first overall.”

Race director Dermot Dignam believes that the squad will play a big part in the race. “Last year the team took several top ten placings in sprints; this time round, it has a very impressive line-up and knows what the race is about. That experience will stand to the riders and we expect them to be very prominent in the results.”

The Italian squad is the latest in a strong lineup of international squads. Ukraine – ISD Lampre, the Australian Drapac Professional team, the New Zealand national selection, the US-based Wonderful Pistachios squad, the Greek/Spanish KTM Murcia lineup, the German Thuringer Energie team and the French AVC Aix en Provence squad have been confirmed in recent weeks.

The strong lineup will be further added to in the remaining three and a half weeks before the eight-day event starts.

The 2011 An Post Rás will begin in Dunboyne on Sunday May 22nd and will feature stage finishes in Portumna, Kilrush, Castleisland, Castletownbere, Blarney, Tramore, Kildare and Skerries. The tough route includes 29 categorised climbs, of which three are first category ascents, as well as a total of 1247 kilometres.