Last Sunday Valerio Conti took his first professional victory when he won a three-rider sprint at the end of the GP Beghelli. Today he again confirmed his good end-of-season form by taking sixth in the hard one-day race Japan Cup.

Lampre-Merida failed to continue it excellent tradition in the Japan Cup but the team still put in a great performance with two young riders on which they intend to build their future: Jan Polanc and Valerio Conti. On the course in Utsonomiya (11 laps of a circuit for a total of 153.1km), Conti finished 6th after having been supported in the finale by Polanc who ended the race in 9th.

As usual the race was selective, with only 15 riders entering the final lap in the front group. The Lampre-Merida dup handled the situation well, with Conti working hard to take another win after his success in te GP Beghelli.

The kilometres whittled down the peloton a bit more, with only 10 riders left for the sprint. Nathan Haas showed his speed to beat Edvald Boasson Hagen and Grega Bole.

"With two riders in the top 10, we have demonstrated our willingness to achieve a good result," sports director Bruno Vicino said. "We knew that the two riders with the best condition were Conti and Polanc and they confirmed that assesment.

"In the finale, Polanc led Conti out and he did well against high-level riders who have almost all come out of the Tour of Beijing with great form."

With the Japan Cup, Damiano Cunego's time as a Lampre-Merida rider has come to an end, with the Italian set to join Vini Fantini in 2015.