In his last interview, Lampre-Merida manager Brent Copeland revealed that Damiano Cunego most likely would leave the team, having spent a whole decade in the outfit. The news have been confirmed by both Gazzetta dello Sport and Nippo-Vini Fantini’s manager Friday morning, as the 33-year old rider decided to step down to the Pro Continental level and signed a two-year contract with the squad.

Copeland made it clear that the Lampre-Merida squad for 2015 season will be primarily build to support Rui Costa’s ambitions as the Tour de France contender. While it remains to be seen whether there will be a spot for Christopher Horner to stay in the squad, after many disappointing seasons Cunego – once the biggest hope of the Italian cycling – was forced to leave.

So far operating as a Continental team, Nippo-Vini Fantini will step up one level next year following a highly successful 2014 season highlighted by Grega Bole’s four victories as well as second-place finishes at the recent Memorial Pantani and Coppa Agostoni.

The 33-year old former Giro d’Italian winner is expected to significantly strengthen their squad, along with Vincenzo Nibali’s younger brother Antonio and his two Zalf-Fior former team-mates Giacomo Berlato and Nicolas Marini.

“The leading light of the team will be Cunego and he will be surrounded by a lot of young riders in the team,” team manager Francesco Pelosi told Cyclingnews.

“We’re a bit of a ‘start-up’ of cycling and we’re going to do a lot of new things,” Pelosi said. “In a sense, results are secondary. Of course, they’re important and obviously we want to win races, but we also want the team to be a good promotional instrument, so communication and ethics are very important for us.”

Apparently Nippo-Vini Fantini team dare to dream big, and so they revealed ambitions of landing an invitation to the Giro d’Italia in their first year of operating as a Pro Continental squad. Obviously, with Cunego as their leader.

“It would be a dream, but first of all we have to show that we deserve the trust of RCS Sport,” said Pelosi.

Even though the 33-year old Italian is nearly a decade younger than true veterans of the professional peloton, he has already started considering his future after finishing career as a rider.

“Encouraged by wife, who is studying medicine, I decided to begin studying,” Cunego said. “I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of being a trainer in the not-too-distant future. Staying in the cycling world in a different guise is an idea I’ve had for a long time.”