Mark Cavendish has been drawn into a bitter war of words with rival sprinter Roberto Ferrari.
The former Team Sky rider called for the Italian to be banned from next year's UCI WorldTour circuit for causing a crash in the 2012 Giro d'Italia, and was frustrated to hear that he will be competing for Lampre-Merida.
Cavendish expressed his disapproval on Twitter, saying: "When I thought I could put this year's festival of crashes behind me, I see Ferrari has signed for a WorldTour team next year."
Ferrari soon hit back at the Briton and expressed his desire to defeat him in next year's tournament.
"That's Cavendish's character. I'm not like that," he told Radio Mana Mana Sport. "I don't know if he's just being ironic or if he's serious.
"But you'd hope a rider has other things to think about during the off-season rather than comment on another rider changing teams.
"I can only hope to beat him again next year."
Cavendish recently parted company with Team Sky in favour of a move to Omega Pharma-Quick Step.
Mark Langshaw
