Niccolo Bonifazio has revealed to La Gazzetta dello Sport that his decision to join Trek-Segafredo from Lampre-Merida was caused by the lack of team support, with the young Italian sprinter saying he could have won even more with his old team.

"The last two years have been tough in practice I managed alone," Bonifazio told Gazzetta dello Sport. "I could have done more in the last two years at Lampre if anyone really believed in me. There was no contact person to follow me, I was lonely, I was not supported with regard to training, nutrition, but also travel, logistics. Now it's all different, and I'm calm, I am just focussing on my work.”

However, Brent Copeland, Lampre-Merida’s general manager, has hit back through another Italian website, Tuttobiciweb, saying Bonifazio never followed the rules.

“Lampre-Merida was the professional team who most believed in Bonifazio, taking an interest in him when he was still young, by giving him our trust and turning him become a professional rider at a time when no one was willing to take it. In the two years he spent with us, we were able to find good quality cycling, but we were totally disappointed by the professional and above all human,” Copeland told Tuttobiciweb.

“[He had a] total lack of respect for the roles and rules. I'll tell you one thing: when deciding whether to re-sign him or not, we took into account the views of all members of the team and the feedback has been extremely negative and reflected the opinion of the leadership that Niccolo showed: a person with little respect, verging on rudeness.”

Bonifazio will next line up at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne.