[img][/img] New Cycling Team Announced! San Pellegrino to fund 3rd Italian World Tour Team
Ex-Acqua e Sapone Head Directeur Sportif Vintini to Lead Squad
Italian Beverage Company San Pellegrino have announced their sponsorship of a third Italian World Tour team to start racing in January 2013. Due to the new UCI regulations of extending the World Tour to 20 teams, it is believed that the team applied successfully for the final World Tour Place.
The board of San Pellegrino have already announced their new General Manager and Head Directeur Sportif, with both roles to be taken by Filippo Vintini. Vintini, who never raced above amateur level, previously rose through the ranks of coaching, becoming one of the most sought after tacticians in the sport. He leaves Acqua e Sapone after a year as their top directeur sportif following stints with Farnese Vini and FDJ BigMat.
As yet, there have only been rumours about the possible squad for next year. Carlos Betancur, who shone under Vintini's stewardship in 2012, is believed to be the top target, with other notable Italian riders Giacomo Nizzolo, Moreo Moser, Diego Ulissi, Damiano Cunego and Domenico Pozzovivo also reportedly in negotiations.
'It's a very exciting time to be involved with in this team' said Vintini yesterday. 'With this team, we aim to create a competitive Italian world tour team based on youth and excitement. Although our budget is one of the smallest in the top level, within a few years we aim to develop the talent we posses into a leading cycling team. Our goals will be finalised when we assemble a squad, but the primary aim is to be competitive on all boards, although it is unlikely we will sign any really 'big name' riders.
Buongiorno and welcome to the official San Pellegrino Pro Cycling Website. Here you can find all the latest news, race reports and previews on the San Pellegrino Pro cycling Team, which will be updated regularly throughout the season. The team is based in Italy, and therefore the majority of the riders are Italian, although we are not by any means exclusive. We are proud to announce the signing of several top riders already: Carlos Betancur, the 23 year old Colombian, has joined as one of our main team leaders. I had the great pleasure of working with him last year, and am convinced of his talent and ability which can be put to good use for the upcoming season. Furthermore, we are delighted to announce the signings of Moreno Moser and Simon Spilak, who have both joined on two year deals. Both will be integral to the team this season. So far, we have signed 10 riders, but there is still a long way to go. Stay tuned for more news, and our plans for the season once our roster is complete.
Ciao, Filippo VintiniEdited by PhiltheGil on 19-10-2013 15:23
San Pellegrino Unveil 2013 Roster Betancur, Pozzovivo to lead at the Giro, Spilak at the Tour de France
Team unable to ride at TourDown Under due to Visa Problems
Following last nights confirmation of the signing of Giacomo Nizzolo from Radioshack Nissan and Mirko Selvaggi from Vacansoleil, San Pellegrino Pro Cycling have officially presented their squad for the upcoming 2013 season. The team will be led in the GC races by Carlos Betancur, Domenico Pozzovivo and Simon Spilak, with young Italians Giacomo Nizzolo and Sacha Modolo the main sprinters. In addition, San Pellegrino have signed Oscar Gattto, who will lead the team at the cobbled classics, and Moreno Moser, last years winner of the Tour de Pologne.
'We feel we have a very balanced team, and this year we can challenge on all fronts' said General Manager Filippo Vintini. 'We may not have any favourites for the Grand Tours, Cobbled Classics or Ardennes races, but we feel we have young riders very capable of top 10 finishes, and if luck goes are way even higher placings.'
Although the team is yet to announce the rider schedules for 2013, it is believed that Simon Spilak will target the Tour de France, with Betancur and Pozzovivo providing dual leadership in both the Vuelta and the Giro. However, the team have already been dealt one major blow: they were denied a visa to race in Australia, due to a late application It is believed they missed the deadline, and were unable to receive an exemption to work in Australia, and will thus miss the first World Tour Race of the season. They have confirmed that they will race the Tour de San Luis instead.
The full team roster for the 2013 squad is below:
Stefano Agostini Luca Ascani Marco Bandiera Carlos Betancur Manuele Boaro Gianluca Brambilla Davide Cimolai Marco Frapporti Oscar Gatto Francesco Ginnani Nenad Kottman (neo-pro) Stefano Leotta (neo-pro) Jean-Marc Marino Sacha Modolo Moreno Moser Giacomo Nizzolo Valeriano Perri (neo-pro) Stefano Pirazzi Domenico Pozzovivo Alessandro Proni Mauro Santambrogio Aleksejs Saramotins Kevin Seeldraeyers Mirko Selvaggi Simon Spilak Simone Stortoni Alessandro Vanotti Marcel Wyss Oliver Zaugg
Edited by PhiltheGil on 19-10-2013 14:23
Buongiorno, and welcome to the San Pellegrino's season 2013! From now on the season starts here! We are incredibly excited to begin racing for the first time as a team in Argentina in January, and before we start the season, we thought we would outline the goals and schedule for the upcoming year:
Team Goals:
Top 3 Strade Bianche
1st Roma Maxima
Top 3 Tirreno Adriatico
Top 3 Milan San Remo
Top 10 Paris Roubaix
Top 10 Liege Bastogne Liege
Top 5 Giro del Trentino
Stage Win Giro d'Italia
Stage Win Tour de Suisse
Stage Win Tour de France
1st in Climber Rankings Vuelta a Espana
Top 10 Il Lombardia
Top 3 Giro dell'Emilia
Overall, the Goals are not too bad, although the Top 3 goals for Tirreno and Milan San Remo will be really tough. Also, in addition to the Stage Win goal of the Giro, we will aim for a high GC finish. Now lets have a look at the riders who will attempt these goals:
Carlos Betancur (23)
In my opinion our star man. He will target the Ardennes Classics, the Giro, will ride the Vuelta and also Il Lombardia. Especially in the first two, he could very well achieve a top 5 finish if he rides well.
Domenico Pozzovivo (31)
One of the best pure climbers in the peloton, we feel the Vuelta actually suits him better so he will ride both that and the Giro. He will be our man for the Tirreno, with Betancur only starting his season later, and will also ride the late Autumn Classics.
Simon Spilak (26)
Overshadowed by Moreno, Rodriguez and Menchov at Katusha, we give him leadership for the first time, and at at the Tour, he will ride for a stage win and hopefully a Top 10 position.
Giacomo Nizzolo (23)
Our best sprinter, and at such a young age, a real talent, in the last few years over shone by Demare and Bouhanni. He will lead at Milan San Remo, as well as target a Stage Win at the Tour de France and maybe the Points Jersey, finishing his season at the Vattenfall Cyclassics and the GP Ouest France.
Sacha Modolo (25)
We believe he is finally ready to make the jump to World Tour level. He will be our sprinter for the Giro and Vuelta, were he should be able to take a stage victory, especially at the Vuelta, where there are usually less sprinters.
Moreno Moser (23)
Moser is one of the most exciting Italian riders in a long time, and will lead for several Italian classics in March, such as the Strade Bianche and Roma Maxima, before riding for Stage Wins in several smaller tours, such as the Tour de Suisse and Tirreno Adriatico, while completing his season in Canada at the Gp de Montreal and Quebec and at the World Champs.
Oscar Gatto (28)
We needed a classics rider, and Gatto fits the bill perfectly. He will lead at all the cobbled races throughout the season, as well as the Eneco tour later on. He should also be a factor in several hilly one day races, although we're not sure whether he'll ride a Grand Tour yet.
In addition, we have several other notable riders, who we hope can make a big impact. Brambilla, Wyss and Pirazzi can all lead at smaller stage races, such as the Tour de Pologne, the Tour of Langkawki, or the Tour of Luxembourg. Cimolai is an excellent back up sprinter, who we hope can make an impact in several pro continental races, while Boaro is a very competent time-triallist, and will be key for team time trials as well.
With such a squad, we cant wait for the 2013 season. Let San Luis role on!
Ciao! Filippo Vintini Edited by PhiltheGil on 19-10-2013 18:33
Team:
Stefano Pirazzi (leader)
Sacha Modolo (sprinter)
Oscar Gatto (free element)
Luca Ascani (teammate)
Marco Frapporti (teammate)
Mirko Selvaggi (teammate)
Goals:
Top 10 on GC (Pirazzi)
Stage Win (Modolo)
We went to San Luis with a clear game plan: a sprinter in Modolo for stages 1,2 and 7, Stefano Pirazzi for General Classification. The first two stages were regulation sprint stages.
On Stage 1, our leadout train functioned excellently to drive Modolo to the front. Unfortunately, we ended up starting the sprint too late with Modolo, though a 6th place was a promising start. Stage 2 we were more agressive; Gatto's late attack following a lull in the pace directly after an intermediate sprint put pressure on the other teams to chase. Modolo sat on Stage 1 winner Van Dijk's wheel; unfortunately, Gatto was caught inside 4km, and Van Dijk's ridiculously early sprint left Modolo with no choice but to go for it with 2km still to go. He almost made it, but the uphill drag proved too much, and Felline nabbed him on the line! Second, but oh so close.
Stage 3 was all about Pirazzi and GC. Unfortunately, the climb at the end was too short and didn't really suit him. We were with the top group of 12 until the sprint started. Unfortunately, we eventually lost 18 seconds to Francesco Reda, the stage winner. The Stage 4 time trial was disastrous anyway. We lost a load of time, and ended up 1 min 47 seconds down on GC, in 35th place. The next two mountain stages would be crucial if we wanted to salvage anything.
Stage 5 was the first big mountain stage. We told Pirazzi to maintain a high pace throughout, so as to stay at the front of the group, but to reserve some energy for the final flat 10kms. Unfortunately, we missed the early attack of Reda and Battaglin, and found ourselves in a chase group of 6, which became 4 by the top; in addition to us there was new race leader Cataldo, his team mate Kiryienka, and Frederik Kessiakoff. We reached the top 45 seconds down, and although Kirienka pulled hard, we were unable to close the gap. However, our 6th place catapulted us into 9th on GC. Even though Stage 6 was uphill, there was a big group of 30 who all crossed the finish line at the same time. It looked like we would finish ninth.
On the final stage, we had two objectives: set up Modolo for a stage win, and try to overtake Gusev in GC: we were just 1 second behind, and we would try and pick up some bonus seconds at one of the intermediate sprints. At the first sprint, we attacked too early, and IAM pulled us back well before the sprint. We were then way too tried to contest it. At this stage, we thought the chance was over, because for sure a breakaway would take the second sprint. However, luckily for us, IAM didn't let a breakaway go, and we managed to set up Pirazzi for a second place in the second intermediate sprint, giving him the crucial 4 bonus seconds. Our attention now switched to Modolo. We put him right behind the wheel of IAM's Hinault; unfortunately, he was then blocked when the IAM leadout man pulled off! If we hadnt been blocked, i feel we could have won....unfortunately, all we could mnage was sixth.
Analysis:
Overall, I am very happy with this warm up to the season. Pirazzi showed his form and would most certainly have been more competitive had it not been for the time trial. Modolo didnt get the sprint win we felt was possible, but he looked good, and often, he was just unlucky. Overall, a good start! Next stop, France for the Etoile de Besseges.
Vintini announced as new Italian Head Coach Vintini replaces Bettini for this years home world championships
San Pellegrino general manager to combine both roles
Filippo Vintini has been announced as the new head coach of the Italian cycling team, replacing Paolo Bettini on a rolling one year contract. The Azzuri are without a medal since Alessandro Ballan's win in 2008, and believe Vintini's tactical expertise will be the deciding factor, with the added pressure of a home world championships in Florence this year. It is believed that Vintini was approached by both the Colombian and Italian Cycling Federations, but opted for his home country.
'Its a great honour to be national coach' said Vintini at a press conference yesterday. 'I spoke with Bettini if he objected to me replacing him, and he was most gracious, and will continue to work on in an advisory role. I was also very flattered to be approached by the Colombians; perhaps it is something for the future. However, I am immensely proud that I have been given this opportunity int his prestigious year to lead my country.'
Vintini also dismissed claims that his leadership of the Italian World Tour team San Pellegrino which influence his squad selection. 'I do already have a job, but above all I am Italian, and I want success for Italy. Every single Italian rider in the peloton will get their chance to prove why they should be in the worlds squad over the coming year. Then I will decide the team.'
Stefano Agostini 
Carlos Betancur
Nenad Kottman (neo-pro)
Jean-Marc Marino
Aleksejs Saramotins
Kevin Seeldraeyers
Simon Spilak
