Even though he is only 24 Diego Ulissi is already entering his 5th season with the Lampre-Merida team. The Italian is a naturally gifted climber and a handy time trialist, a potential future GC contender for the Grand Tours, but for now Lampre-Merida are content to lean on Przemyslaw Niemiec and a resurgent Damiano Cunego as GC contenders, leaving Ulissi costless to stage hunt. With the explosive style to excel on the shorter sharper slopes, and terrific finishing speed, Ulissi is a potential winner in any stage that doesn’t end with a bunch sprint.
That team has placed considerable faith in Ulissi, a double junior world champion, being patient and giving him the time to develop naturally. Ulissi has rewarded that support with a string of increasingly impressive wins, year on year making more of an impact in the prestigious races. His neo-pro season in 2010 was dotted with good performances and ended in style, with Ulissi sealing his first professional win in the Gran Premio Industria e Commercio di Prato.
He started well in 2011, finishing 2nd on the final stage of Paris-Nice, and went on to make a stage winning debut in the Giro d’Italia before winning the Tour de Slovenie three weeks later. The Giro d’Italia stage win came from a break after Ulissi arrived in the final kilometre as part of a four man group. Ulissi immediately tested his companions with a strong attack, but eased up then took up position at the rear of the group. Ulissi was the first to launch his sprint and was set for victory until Giovanni Visconti pushed him aside to cross the line first, however Visconti was penalised for his actions and Ulissi handed a deserved win.
Three more stage wins would follow in 2012 as would a 9th place finish in La Fleche Wallonne, before Ulissi took a major step forward in 2013. At Paris-Nice Ulissi would find himself mixing it with the overall contenders, finishing 7th overall and ending the race with a strong performance against the clock. Victory at the Coppi e Bartali followed before top 25 finishes in all three of the Ardennes Classics. Ulissi won the opening stage of the Tour de Pologne, a climb to Madonna e Campiglio where Ulissi proved to be the fastest of the 15 strong group that arrived at the finish together. Ulissi also made his debut at the Vuelta, finishing 2nd on the Alto del Naranco. He then finished his season with a trio of victories in the Italian Autumn season, winning Milan-Torino, the Coppa Sabatini and the Giro dell’Emilia.
Ulissi enjoyed a sensational start to 2014 with a fine victory on the second stage of the Tour Down Under. The stage finish featured several sharp ramps which let Ulissi jump clear of Simon Gerrans (Orica GreenEDGE). Ulissi finished the Tour Down Under 3rd overall and also recorded 2nd, 3rd and 4th place finishes in the race. Victory in the lumpy G.P. Camaiore followed but Ulissi’s season has gone a little off the ball since then. Despite failing to record any notable results Ulissi showed some signs of form during the Ardennes Classics; races that suit his skill set perfectly.
The team will continue to be patient with Ulissi’s transformation into a GC contender, but it’s easy to be patient when a rider keeps producing results, as Ulissi has done. With Niemiec and Cunego looking after the team’s GC hopes, expect Ulissi to pick a handful of stages to target. The uphill finishes on stages five and six could be targets, and he could try and get into the breaks in the mountainous final week.