Wiggle - San Pellegrino are proud to announce the first rumour surrounding the team in respect to a prospective loan deal. Whilst the managers of both the Wiggle - San Pellegrino Professional Cycling Team and the Team Bianchi squad refused to confirm or deny the rumour, it has been mentioned by a source close to both managers that Tommy Zaini was going to be on his way to the Pro Tour team in order to learn from the best in the business. With Wiggle - San Pellegrino having one of, if not the strongest hilly squad for the coming season, it would be no surprise to the cycling media if the rumour that Zaini is on his way to support Simone Ponzi in his bid to win the Giro di Lombardia was, in fact, truth. If the rumour did indeed hold an ounce of truth, it would be fair to assume that Zaini would be racing all of the major one day classics, along with all of the Italian calender, excluding the Giro d'Italia, but including an excursion to Spain for the Vuelta.
We can only wait to see if rumour is indeed truth.
Team Bianchi is proud to announce 4 new riders for our team for this season.
The first one is David de la Fuente You can see he is really happy to join the team!
He will strengthen the team in the Hill classics/stage races. He is comparable to Koldo Gil the spanish road champion (who won the spanish championship in great style after climbing the Angliru 8 times). He is good at the mountains and on hills so he will partner up with Gil at the more difficult hill classics/stage races like the Vuelta a Mallorca or Subida al Naranco.
The second rider who will join the team is Manuel Lloret
Manuel is the rider we wanted, finally a rider who can climb and TT so he will fill a gap in this team. He will race some mountainious races with T/TTs so we might grab there some points we left out last season.
The next 2 riders are loaned from the italian team Wiggle - San Pellegrino and the first time in the history of ACRT that we will develop other teams riders.
The first one is Stefano Locatelli a young talent from Italy Winning!
Along with Locatelli comes also Oleksandr Martynenko A man with a bike
We might present soon maybe some more riders hopefully a great rider... So see you next time here at the press conference centre!
After the press conference it was rumored that the Team Bianchi manager had a meeting with the Bianchi bosses. They aren't really happy about that there are more spanish and belgian riders then italian ones. So there might be problems sooner rather then later for the Bianchi manager...Edited by Rin on 28-06-2011 18:26
Team Bianchi - 2012 Man-Game ProContinental Tour Champions
Team Bianchi press release: Bianchi transfer season ends with 2 new riders
The season starts soon so there are 2 new riders for Bianchi
The first one is Juan Jóse Cobo the winner of the last year races Vuelta Ciclista a la Rioja, Euskal Bizikleta, Tour de Beauce and San Sebastian Classic He knows how it feels like to win
Cobo comes from the promoted Team Santander and so we hope that he will win a race this season. But for sure he will heating up the competition in the team.
And the last rider Bianchi got is on loan this season from Team Festina - Conex Rohan Dennis
We hope that Dennis will have enough races to gain experience as he is a track cyclist and that he will be a good helper
Edited by Rin on 28-06-2011 18:36
Team Bianchi - 2012 Man-Game ProContinental Tour Champions
Team Bianchi team presentation: The aces
Welcome to the Team Bianchi team presentation at Milan at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II just before the first riders are heading to their races
Our team is this year very good and we should make the Top 5 in this season and we hope to promote. We have improved a lot riders wise so we have at every race 2 captains who should get the important wins for us and at some races we have up to 4 riders who could captain a team. But also we won't forget that everyone listed here has at least 1 race he should captain it so.. Here are the riders:
The first rider we welcome at the stage here is.. Juan Jose Cobo
Juan is our rider for the hard races we think compared to the Team, he should be able to get points for us there. He is in races with hills and mountains and will be the captain at these races. Cobos races: Vuelta a Mallorca, GP di Lugano, Vuelta Castilla y Leon, Subida al Naranco, Philadelphia International, Giro del Capo, GP of Wales, Clasica San Sebastian, Tour de Pologne, Trofeo Melinda and the GP dell' Emilia Personal goals: Top 3 at Clasica San Sebastian, Vuelta a Mallorca and Tour de Pologne
Gerald Ciolek
Our sprinter, with high hopes for the last season he had unfortunetly a stuttering season but secured at least a win at the Dome2Dome Cycling Challenge. We hope that he will have a more successful season but we know that the sprint competition is now even bigger with Bennati and Vantomme in the CT.
(The fans are cheering for Bennati)
Aaaeee, Gerald is a lot better then this overhyped italian
(The fans are booing very loud) Cioleks races: Down Under Classic, Tour Down Under, Tour de Langkawi, Cape Argus Cycle Tour, Profonde van Drenthe, Tour of Southland, Berlin ProRace, Air Force Cycling Classic, Deutschland Tour, Paris-Tours and Tour of Taihu Personal goals: Stage wins at Tour de Langkawi and Tour of Southland and Top 3 Berlin ProRace
Maxime Monfort
The last seasons winner of Tour Mediterrenean will race most time with Dimitri Claeys so both are the captains at these races and so making harder for the other teams to make the right move. Monforts races: MTN Cycling Classic, Tour of South Africa, Strade Bianche, Tour of Southland, Tour de Luxembourg, Giro del Capo, Tour de Beauce, Tour de Pologne and Giro dell'Emilia Personal goals: 3 stage wins, Top 5 Tour de Luxembourg and Tour de Beauce
Dimitri Claeys
Dimitri Claeys is a youngster and we believe that he will surprise this season as he improved. Now he should be able to race also on his own without taking a lot team duties. Claeys races: MTN Cycling Classic, Nedbank Cycling Classic, Strade Bianche, Cape Argus Cycle Tour, Hel van het Mergelland, Tour of the Battenkill, Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt, Tour of Southland, Barcelona Classic, Tour de Luxembourg, Philadelphia International, Tour de Beauce, Criterium Hainlaite, Air Force Cycling Classic, Clasica San Sebastian, Tour de Pologne, GP Plouay, GP de Quebec, GP de Montreal, Giro dell'Emilia and Japan Cup Personal goals: 3 race wins
Frantisek Rabon
We are happy to keep the czech road champion at our team and he will be one of our free riders who should take team duties but also should go in the breakaways as he isn't that bad in sprints from a breakaway group. He has some races he is a captain in but most time he is used as a joker who could surprise everyone. Rabons races:Down Under Classic, Tour Down Under, Nedbank Cycling Classic, Tour of South Africa, Strade Bianche, Tour de Boland, Cape Argus Cycle Tour, Hel van het Mergelland, Tour of the Battenkill, Profonde van Drenthe, Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt, Tour of Southland, Barcelona Classic, Berlin ProRace, Philadelphia International, Criterium Hainlaite, Air Force Cycling Classic, Clasica San Sebastian, Paris-Tours and Japan Cup Personal goals: Helping the team the best he can and getting a (breakaway) win
Koldo Gil
The spanish road champion who mastered the Angliru and taking the surprise win maybe getting old but still he could be able to be very important to the team as he did in the last 2 seasons the ACRT got their CT cycling team. He most time he will be teamed up with David de la Fuente. Gils races: Tour Down Under, Tour de Langkawi, Giro dell'Appellenio, Tour of Japan, Subida al Naranco, Criterium Hainlaite, GP of Wales, Manx International, Clasica San Sebastian, Tour de Pologne, Vuelta a Burgos, GP Plouay, GP de Quebec, GP de Montreal, Milano-Torino and Giro dell'Emilia Personal goals: 2 Top 5 places
David de la Fuente
One of the new riders to our team and he will ride the most time with Lloret as a helper for the mountains but will also race with Gil and Cobo at races that are hilly/mountainous. de la Fuentes races: Vuelta a Mallorca, Tour de Boland, Giro dell'Appellenio, Tour of Japan, Subida al Naranco, Giro del Capo, Internationale Österreich Rundfahrt, Clasica San Sebastian, Tour de Pologne, Vuelta a Burgos, Trofeo Melinda, GP de Quebec, GP de Montreal, Milano-Torino and Giro dell'Emilia Personal goals: 1 race win, Top 5 at Tour of Japan and Tour de Boland
Manuel Lloret
He last rider at this block is Manuel Lloret. We are very happy to sign our first rider who is an allrounder with being good at the mountains and at time trials. He will have Hubert Schwab on his side as a helper but also sometimes David de la Fuente so we hope that he will show us why we signed him. Llorets races: Vuelta al Tachira, Vuelta a Mallorca, Giro del Trentino, Vuelta Castilla y Leon, Internationale Österreich Rundfahrt, Brixia Tour, Vuelta a Burgos and the Deutschland Tour Personal goals: Top 5 at Internationale Österreich Rundfahrt, Deutschland Tour and Vuelta a Burgos
Team Bianchi - 2012 Man-Game ProContinental Tour Champions
Team Bianchi started like last season at the season opener in South Africa at the MTN Cycling Classic.
The field was nervous today with several attacks and also Bianchi was in it with Monfort and Claeys but unfortunetly that group with Vanendert was reeled in.
And with some kms to go Bianchi was in a very good position but unfortunetly Claeys got overtaken by Ginanni at the last meters of this race.
Monfort last years 2nd got 14th today.
Team Bianchi: Down Under Classic and Vuelta al Tachira
The season opener went well with a 2nd place for Claeys, so how is the team doing in the 2nd and 3rd race of the "opener week" for Bianchi?
Matzbacher attacked for Bianchi so we hadn't to relay, but he should be the first rider to get through as we had Odebrecht and Lequatre as good sprinter from a breakaway group
Lequatre attacking
But as it had to happen, every breakaway group got reeled in and so Ciolek had to do good for us in a sprint and with 5th it was a ok result Ciolek 5th
Vuelta al Tachira
We build up a team around Lloret so we could be sure that he will have enough helpers in the mountains.
At first there was the Team Time Trial and it didn't went that well we would like to have it though with finishing 7th from 12 teams but just 9 seconds down to the first team Team WWE.
The flat stages were boring for us as we hadn't a sprinter in our team so the loanees attacked.
The first mountain stages also went somehow wrong as Lloret finished behind the GC contenders and leaded chasing groups in.
The mountain time trial was also disappointing for us with finishing 10th and 25 seconds behind Niemiec but infront of Alarcon
Due to Alarcons enormous strength (and his Bianchi bikes of course) Lloret could do what he wanted to do and got back and then Alarcon started his (bianchi) turbo and finished 1st in the GC and got every jersey, thanks to Bianchi bikes!
After not getting the podium places and the 4th, Lloret had secure his 5th position and in the last stage he managed it with an aggressive riding style
And so he finished 3rd on the stage and so secured the 5th position, while Alarcon won it, thanks to Bianchi bikes!
GC
1 Jose Alarcon Aker Solutions - Bergans 37h25'40
2 Julián Rodas Team CSC-Orbea + 40
3 Carlos Castaño Pirelli - Alfa Romeo + 2'41
4 Vadim Ratiy VolksWagen - Siemens + 3'44 5 Manuel Lloret Team Bianchi + 4'58
6 Magno Nazaret Emu Export + 5'40
7 Edwin Parra Bustamante Team CSC-Orbea + 5'41
8 Ryan Eastman California Giant Berry Farms-Specialized + 6'09
9 Wilmer Vasquez Aker Solutions - Bergans + 6'36
10 Mikel Astarloza Team WWE + 6'52 14 Hubert Schwab Team Bianchi + 9'13
Team Bianchi - 2012 Man-Game ProContinental Tour Champions
There are several diffrent rumours about the Team Bianchi..
Whilst at the Top 3 of the Continental Tour and so are about to promote, some people said that the teams main sponsor might change.
After the LEGO contract expired after 2 seasons and Bianchi jumped in, they are unhappy about the manager as he didn't managed to make a mainly german team and didn't sign more italians.
There is a rumour about the main sponsorship: they are a sportswear manufacturer from Spain and like the mainly spanish performance this season so far and would like to take over the main sponsorship.
Also it is rumoured that the manager isn't happy about the performances of Gerald Ciolek and won't renew the contract with Ciolek.. A source told us that the manager said: "He isn't good enough for the Continental Tour.. Why should I keep him at the ProTour when the competition there is much better? Can't see how he should win against the likes of a true champion like Boonen"
Team Bianchi - 2012 Man-Game ProContinental Tour Champions
I just want to inform you that our results section is now up to date after our latest race Paris-Tours.
Was a lot of work as I had to start from the beginning of this season
But it was very good to see all the results now like the crazy Vuelta a Burgos last stage where Manuel Lloret won the final stage, the general classification, the points jersey and the KoM jersey.
Also we had a one-two win, also I counted there were at least 4 one-two wins, stage or race win, in this season.
Not only us, so it's with other teams like Falke or Rapha in the races we took part in so I haven't got a look into the other races we weren't in.
Manuel Lloret managed to get us our first green jersey. Weird when you see that our first team was a sprinters team and the 2nd season was abysmal for Ciolek. But Ciolek managed in his 3rd season here at this team to get his green jersey.
Dimitri Claeys also managed to get a white jersey, also a very first for us. Maybe we aren't a youth development team
We managed to get 3 of 5 our season goals which is very good. Each season we could reach more and more of our season goals. At the first season we just reached one, and the 2nd (last) season we managed to reach two of them and now we got three of our very risky season goals.
So we improved in every part in the game each season but the next step the ProTour will be very hard.
With having in mind that the season isn't finished yet, comparing our 2011 and the current 2012 seasons campaign, we could improve the amount of stage and jersey wins, 2nd and 3rd places.
As we just count the Top 3, I think it's very sure to say that there are a lot of points also from the other to Top 10 positions as otherwise you can't be 1st then with last seasons 10th place.
So depth is really awared by the PCMUCI?, don't know how the man game association is called.
We have just 2 races left with the Tour of Taihu and the Japan Cup, also the national championships are coming up so maybe it could be updated again. Edited by Rin on 27-09-2012 12:55
Team Bianchi - 2012 Man-Game ProContinental Tour Champions
As the season ended Tour wise and just the national championships are ahead, we can say we will prepare us for ProTour.
That means: every rider is available at a certain price.
We are willing to take young talents on loan if they need experience like last season we did for Festina and Wiggle with Locatelli taking a respectable 8th place at the Criterium Hainlaite.
I love both Bianchi and Cannondale as bike brands, having ridden them both, meaning I don't know if I like your change or not
Looking forward to see what you decide to do in the transfer season, I believe your team is a strong overall team, meaning you probably won't need that many changes.
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