Although Lampre-Merida still only have 24 riders under contract for next season, the Italian formation is already working hard on the roster for 2017. The team confirmed to Wielerflits that Simone Consonni, Edward Ravasi and Filippo Ganna have signed contracts that will see them join the team at the start of the 2017 season.

With the signing of the three Italians, Lampre-Merida have again secured a number of major talents from the Italian U23 circuit. Consonni (21) is currently the greatest sprint talent in the youth ranks. This year he won the flat French La Côte Picarde, part of the UCI U23Nations Cup. Furthermore, the Colpack rider won silver in the U23 road race at the World Championships in Richmond and he won a similar medal at the recent European Championships Track Cycling in the elimination race.

Ravasi (21) is a good climber. In 2014 he was fourth in the final standings of the grueling U23 race Giro della Valle d'Aosta Mont Blanc, while he was nineteenth there in 2015 after having had a bad day. This season he was also fourth in the Tour of Croatia behind Maciej Paterski, LottoNL-Jumbo acquisition Primož Roglič and Sylwester Szmyd. In the Tour de l'Avenir, he was 22th in the overall standings. In the autumn, he rode as a stagiaire for Lampre-Merida alongside Ganna.

The latter (19) is only a first-year U23 rider and a very strong time trialist. At the Chrono Champenois Masculin International (1.2), he beat European time trial champion Steven Lammertink by a minute and twenty seconds. At the U23 World Championships time trial, he was left disappointed in thirteenth place. "Ravasi, Consonni and Ganna will join the team in 2017 as neo-pros. They will probably also get the chance to get used to the level in 2016 by riding a number of interesting races as stagiaires," informs the spokesperson of the team.

The blue-fuchsia-pink formation of Team Manager Brent Copeland has been been able to attract a lot of talents recently. The promising Slovenians Matej Mohorič and Marko Kump will reinforce the team, just like Louis Meintjes and Simone Petilli; both great talents for stage races.  Yukiya Arashiro is also new for 2016. Yet the roster is still fairly small, with only 24 riders. This is one more than the minimum number required for a WorldTour team. Last Wednesday the Italian team got the green light from the license commission to also race at the highest level in 2016.

From November 30 to December 3 Lampre-Merida will stay in Darfo Boaria Terme for the first team meeting prior to the 2016 season. "21 of our riders will be there, including the new riders, but not Feng Chun-kai and Tsgabu Grmay. On Wednesday we got the confirmation that we have received a WorldTour license for next season. Now - according to the rules of the UCI – we will activate the contracts of all the riders, bringing the roster up to 23 riders. Soon we will send press releases when the riders have signed their contracts. Meanwhile, the management team and the technical staff will evaluate extra riders that are needed and we are able to contract riders who deserve a place in our team,” the spokesperson added.

The latter turned out to be necessary: On ​​Friday ​​Lampre-Merida announced that 21-year-old Federico Zurlo joins from UnitedHealthcare. He signed for two years. Zurlo brings the total up to 24 riders although it is not known whether the new acquisition will already attend the team meeting Darfo Boaria Terme. In recent weeks the Italians have already extended a number of contracts. Matteo Bono and Manuele Mori (the latter possible faces one year and eight months imprisonment in the Mantova case) signed until 2017 and 2016 respectively, while Taiwanese champion Feng Chun-kai and Ethiopian champion  Tsgabu Grmay will stay for another year. The Ethiopian got the nod because of his "his kindness and his desire to improve his cycling skills.” Probably more contract renewals will soon be announced while more signings are also possible.

Six riders will leave the team. Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Maximiliano Richeze (Etixx-Quick Step), Rubén Plaza (Orica-Green Edge), Rafael Valls (Lotto Soudal) and José Serpa (Orgullo Antiqueño) had an expiring contract but all managed to secure a ride in another team. Filippo Pozzato not yet succeeded. He still has not signed any agreement for 2016. However, the flamboyant Italian will be in action during the Six-Days of Rotterdam, where he lines up with Jens Mouris. On Thursday, the winner of the 2006 Milan-San Remo trained with four riders from Skydive Dubai-Al Ahli, thanking them for the hospitality in a later tweet. The Italian is also reportedly close to signing a contract with Southeast.