Damiano Cunego will be brandishing a new look for the Tour de France and it won’t just be a fresh dye-job on his curly locks.

The 2004 Giro d’Italia champ and Lampre team leader is supporting a new anti-doping campaign and has had its slogan tattooed on his left arm. It reads: “I’m doping free.”

“It’s a strong message,” Cunego told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “The idea came to me after reading a letter from a boy named Marco Guadagnini, who races in a white jersey that reads, ‘doping-free.’ I really liked that message. Why not do something? I got in contact Mr. Guadagnini, father of Marco, and together we’ve created a program for us athletes. It will be universal, not just cycling, to show that all sports can change.”

Cunego will unveil details of the project in Brest ahead of the start of the 2008 Tour. Joining the effort are Italian Olympic athletes, including swimmer Alessia Filippi and race walker Ivano Brugnetti.

The group will be promoting its anti-doping message via a tattoo that can be purchased for one euro on the www.dopingfree.org. The group hopes to raise money for underprivileged athletes and promote clean sport.

Cunego said it’s important for athletes to take a high-profile stand against doping and to demonstrate that changes are occurring in cycling.

“Young people must believe in us. For some years, the environment has been improving. We must send out the message and show that we want to change,” Cunego said. “I’ve always done my career with hard work and sacrifice. Maybe I’m no Superman, but I’m a good racer. This is nothing to be ashamed or afraid of. The most important thing is that the sacrifices count.”

The announcement comes as Cunego is prepared to lead Lampre into this year’s Tour with high hopes for a strong overall performance.

Cunego, who won Amstel Gold Race in April, skipped this year’s Giro for the first time of his career to focus exclusively on the Tour.

“This year’s Tour is better suited for me than the Giro. There are fewer kilometers of time trials and some beautiful climbs. It fascinates me,” Cunego said. “Winning the white jersey was a beautiful experience. I did pretty well in my first Tour, now I will go back with more confidence. I will go to the Tour convinced of my own abilities, but without presuming too much. The Tour does not forgive.”

Despite critics who say that Cunego cannot climb or time trial well enough to contend for a race as grueling as the Tour, Italy’s “Little Prince” stubbornly believes he can be a factor.

“I believe I am a rider who’s capable of doing well in both the spring classics and grand tours,” Cunego said. “I still believe I’m capable of riding well for three weeks and I’d like to confirm it this year with a strong ride at the Tour de France.”

Ever since he became the youngest Giro winner in a generation when he won the 2004 Giro at only 22, has sometimes struggled to meet the huge expectations shoveled on him by fans, media, his team and even himself.

He’s done reasonably well at three subsequent Giro runs (18th in 2005, 4th 2006, 5th 2007), but hasn’t blown the socks off everyone like some expected after he won four stages and the overall in 2004’s blistering exhibition. There have been no subsequent Giro podiums or stage victories, hardly the way he wanted to follow up his dramatic 2004 crown.

Cunego admits that he still has to confirm his Giro crown, but believes he’s on the right track with his plan to race the Tour for the second time of his career and remind everyone that he can still be counted on as a consistent GC threat.

In 2005, Cunego was zapped with the Epstein-Barr virus that canceled his planned Tour debut that year.

His promising Tour debut the following year saw him finish 12th overall and claim the best young rider’s jersey ahead of such touted rivals as Markus Fothen and Alberto Contador.

This year, he believes he can do even better, and is taking aim at a top 10 and a stage victory.

Cunego leads the Lampre squad, with Sylvester Szmyd, Marco Marzano and Paolo Tiralongo expected to help in the mountains. Matteo Bono, Massimiliano Mori and Daniele Righi will try to keep Cunego out of the buffeting winds on the flats.

Classics rider Alessandro Ballan will be a threat for stage victories if he can work into breakaways while Marzio Bruseghin, third overall at the 2008 Giro, is hoping to shine in the time trials.

Lampre for Tour de France
Alessandro Ballan (I)
Matteo Bono (I)
Marzio Bruseghin (I)
Damiano Cunego (I)
Marco Marzano (I)
Massimiliano Mori (I)
Daniele Righi (I)
Sylvester Szmyd (Pol)
Paolo Tiralongo (I)