Lampre-Merida has officially announced the renewal of Matteo Bono's contract. The Italian will ride for the team for another year.

The thirty-one year old rider will do his tenth season with the team, in addition to the months he spent as a stagiaire in 2005. This will make Bono (who has 4 victories in his career, all in WorldTour races) the rider who has served the team the longest.

The extension of the contract is very important for Lampre-Merida as it allows them to keep a rider who gives a stable contribution of experience, energies and racing skills. He's one of the best riders in the world at supporting the team's captains, as the blue-fuchsia-green team manager Brent Copeland confirmed.

"Matteo exclusively raced in our team during his career, giving us the opportunity to appreciate the regular improvement of his skills that have made him reach a high level for this kind of role.

"It's also important to point out that he's more than a domestique, as it's confirmed by the four victories he obtained during his career and by the breakaways in the past season in Milano-Sanremo, Giro d'Italia and Liege-Bastogne-Liege where he reached the summit of the Redoute as lone leader of the race. He'll be a good model for the young talents in the team."

Bono looks forward to 2015.

"My 2014 season has just ended in Tour of Hainan. I'm going to spend some days on a holiday but soon I'll start working again  in view of 2015.

"After so many years, it's such a magic feeling to receive the trust from the team, the sponsors and the colleagues. I thanks them all for this amazing thing. My commitment is to always give the best for the team and for my teammates in order to achieve the best results together."