Life is not all so sweet on the Linda McCartney all-vegetarian cycling team. Team leader Max Sciandri has confessed to missing the meat.

The Olympic bronze medallist, born in Derby but raised in Italy on Tuscany's famous Florentine steaks, is still trying to get used to the vegetarian lifestyle. "I'm finding it very hard," revealed Sciandri during a break in this week's Tirreno-Adriatico race. "I really miss a nice slice of ham in the morning, or taking a bite from a grilled chop. It's like giving up smoking, you feel a bit on edge and you dive into sweets and liquorice sticks."

Linda McCartney, who headed a vegetarian food company, launched the world's first all-vegetarian professional cycling team in 1998, which now also includes Ireland's Ciaran Power.

Still, Sciandri believes it would all be worth it because at the end of March the whole team will be guests of Paul McCartney. "I've got a long list of autographs to get for friends. We've all become Beatles fans, even those who preferred the Rolling Stones," he said.