Lampre-Merida has started the planning if the 2014 season at a meeting held yesterday. Team captains Rui Costa, Filippo Pozzato, Diego Ulissi, Damiano Cunego, Sacha Modolo and Roberto Ferrari met with new team manager Brent Copeland and technical advisor Michele Bartoli to find out which races to target next year.

Lampre-Merida had a 2013 seasons with ups and downs. While the team did well in the Giro with Michele Scarponi and Przemyslaw Niemiec and Diego Ulissi dominated the end of the season, the team didn't have much success in the cobbled and Ardennes classics.

To improve on those performances, the team has started the planning of the 2014 season at a meeting which was held yesterday. Newly appointed team manager Brent Copeland and the team's technical advisor Michele Bartoli met with the 6 riders that are expected to lead the team in the most important races. Rui Costa, Diego Ulissi, Filippo Pozzato, Damiano Cunego, Sacha Modolo and Roberto Ferrari had a chance to tell which races they want to target and which riders they would like to bring for support.

New signing and world champion Costa has already expressed his desire to focus on the Tour de France and may potentially give the Ardennes classics a shot. Pozzato is likely to put his focus on the cobbled classics while new signing Modolo and Ferrari will share sprinting duties with Argentinean Maximilano Richeze. Following a very successful end of the season, Ulissi has made it clear that he will target success in the hardest one-day races while Cunego hopes to bounce back from a disappointing season with a solid showing in the Ardennes and one of the grand tours.

It still hasn't been confirmed that Michele Scarponi will leave the team but he has been strongly rumoured to have signed a contract with Astana. His absence from yesterday's meeting is another indication that the 2011 Giro winner has found a new home for the 2014 season.

The first Lampre-Merida training camp will be held in Darfo Boario Terme in early December.