After having obtained May two successes in the Tour of Japan and after having won the youth and the points classifications of the Nipponese race, LAMPRE-MERIDA will return to the Land of the Rising Sun for the Japan Cup on Sunday.

The team which will be directed by Bruno Vicino aims to continue the great tradition of successes in the Utsonomiya race (6 victories) and will have a strong line-up: Diego Ulissi will be the captain, Jan Polanc a top quality outsider, Chung Kai Feng and stagiare Edward Ravasi will be ready to join the breakaways and Manele Mori will do his best to honor a race in which he always finds extra motivation (winner in 2007).

“Our team has always been protagonist in the Japan Cup, even if we’ve missed some victories for some years," sports director Vicino explained. "Our riders are going to participate in the Japanese race at the end of a long season, during which they spent much energy, but the motivation will be be higher than the tiredness: there are many Asian fans who’ll support us and we’ll receive as usual the warm welcome from the sponsors.

"The course has changed, so now the 14 laps for the total distance of 144.2 km will be more demanding than in the past”.