EXCLUSIVE - Gianni Savio wants to go ProTour

Gianni Savio at the Giro d'Italia 2012.

Team Manager of Androni Giocattoli, Gianni Savio, is no longer satisfied with his Italian team only being in cycling’s second division as a Pro-Continental team. The charismatic Italian plans to do what Mauro Gianetti and Joxean ‘Matxin’ Fernandez failed to accomplish last year when they went to Venezuela in order to save the crumbling GEOX team after the shoe company cancelled its sponsorship.

In the beginning of 2012, Gianni Savio -  who also acts as national coach for the Venezuelan cycling team - secured a deal with the South American government which meant the official team name in 2012 has been Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela. Building the team for 2013, Gianni Savio had to let go of three of his star riders when he couldn’t match the ProTour teams’ offers for Alessandro De Marchi (Cannondale) and José Serpa and Roberto Ferrari (both Lampre) due to a small budget but if everything goes according to plan this won’t be a problem in the future.

“Right now I’m negotiating with the Venezuelan government about  the chances of upgrading the team to ProTour status. We talked about it at the Olympics this summer and in January I will fly to Caracas (the Venezuelan capital) to have another meeting about the project”, Gianni Savio tells C-Cycling and adds that it will probably take a couple of years until the ProTour team will be up and running.

“I think it will be difficult to have it all ready for 2014, but I hope that in 2015 it will be possible”.

You might ask yourself why Gianni Savio should be able to do what Gianneti and Matxin couldn’t. According to Savio, the answer is simple: “I know Venezuela. I know what is possible and what is not possible. They [Gianetti and Matxin] presented a project that simply wasn’t possible. I’m more realistic and that is also why I say 2015 and not 2014”.

Right now, Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela have 17 riders on contract for the next season and according to Gianni Savio the team will see a couple a new faces in the beginning of next year. “I think I will sign two or maybe three young Venezuelan riders in January. I think we have space for that”, he reveals.

In addition to the ProTour plan Gianni Savio will already lead a Venezuelan team with young riders from South America - helped out by a couple of his own riders - next year. “The Venezuelan government wants to invest in cycling and it would be good for the riders to come and try to race in Europe. I hope and think that this team will be ready next year.”, Gianni Savio explains.

A full interview with Gianni Savio will be online here on C-Cycling in the weekend. Stay tuned.

Rumor killer - Vacansoleil-DCM denies ties with Cobo

Vuelta España winner Juanjo Cobo

After former Team GEOX boss Mauro Gianetti gave Juanjo Cobo ‘carte blanche’ to leave the team and a find a new one for 2012 different rumors have been going on about the future of the recent Vuelta España winner. One rumor sends Cobo to Vacansoleil-DCM since it seems like the Dutch WorldTour team will have some extra money left in case Ezequiel Mosquera gets the expected 2 years ban.

But after getting burned by first Mosquera and later thrown into the fire by Riccardo Riccò, Vacansoleil-DCM now wants stay clear of any suspicious riders. Juanjo Cobo was a part of the Saunier Duval team who had to withdraw from the Tour de France in 2008 due to doping violations by its riders Leonardo Piepoli and Riccardo Riccò and Vacansoleil-DCM can’t afford to have that happening again.

“We can’t be the team to sign a rider like him after what happened to us with Mosquera and Riccò. We can’t afford to do that again to ourselves and therefore we have never been interested in signing him. I have great respect for the rider and I regret to talk about a rider who is never tested positive in this way, but unfortunately this is how cycling is at the moment”, press officer Ard Bierens explains to me.

As I wrote earlier on this site it is expected that Juanjo Cobo will continue his career at one of the WorldTour licensed teams, but it will for sure not be at Vacansoleil-DCM.

EXCLUSIVE - No new sponsors to save Gianetti & Matxin

A couple of weeks ago I wrote that Mauro Gianetti had at least two concrete offers on the table to save the former Team GEOX. One of these was the deal with President Hugo Chavez and the Venezuelan government while the other was with ‘regular’ international company. At the time it seemed like it was only a matter of time before a new sponsor deal would be signed but now the optimism is gone. I just got off the phone with Mauro Gianetti.

“The situation isn’t easy. Right now we are still waiting for a decision from the Venezuelan government. It’s a big, long term project and of course you can’t just rush to a decision, I understand that. I’m in touch with them every day though, but I don’t think it will be possible to continue on the level we would like to next year. Maybe we can make a deal for 2012 to carry on with a smaller budget, but I don’t know. To be honest it’s very complicated right now”, Gianetti explains.

Last Friday the UCI gave Gianetti & Matxin another week to find a new sponsor, but according to Gianetti that’s not enough time.

“Ever since GEOX announced the end of their sponsorship, I have been doing everything I could to secure a new deal. But now we just have to face the reality of modern cycling. It’s extremely difficult to find a new sponsor and if you look around there are really no new sponsors among the big teams. Not even Highroad managed to find a new sponsor. Due to the low economy it’s just not possible right now and we have to face that. Maybe we can sign a deal in one or two months, because I’m really talking with a lot of companies. The opportunity is there but the time isn’t”.

Denis Menchov has already been rumored to Katusha for several months and according to Mauro Gianetti that would indeed be the best solution. “I hope he sign the deal soon. Denis is a good rider and a good person and I think that Katusha should have the best Russian rider on their team”.

Also Juanjo Cobo, who has been faithful to Gianetti & Matxin in this difficult time, is now ‘free to leave’. “He has been approached by some teams. I can’t say which ones, but of course he is not going to stay now, I mean he is the winner of the Vuelta”, Gianetti says. According to my information Cobo will most likely continue on one of the World Tour licensed teams next year.

So unfortunately it really seems like the former GEOX team won’t continue next year and if they do, only on a level much lower than before. Such a shame for cycling!

EXCLUSIVE - New sponsor just around the corner for Gianetti and Matxin

Gianetti & Matxin in Venezuela...

Mauro Gianetti and Josean Fernández Matxin have been working very hard to secure a new sponsor deal since GEOX announced the end of their sponsorship a month ago. Right now they have 2 “concrete deals” to choose between.

Last week Gianetti and Matxin went to Venezuela in order to set up a deal with the Venezuelan government, more specifically the tourism board, under the name of “Venezuela - País de sueño”. The two stayed in South America for three days where they managed put together a pretty good plan. Very much like Katusha and Astana the idea is to set up a big national cycling project, bankrolled by the Hugo Chavez government enrolling the pro.-team (what’s left of Team GEOX), a track team, mountain bike etc. etc. “A very interesting project”, as Mauro Gianetti describes it. All there is left now is for President Hugo Chavez to green light to the project.

Should the Venezuelan project fall apart, Mauro Gianetti has yet another Ace up his sleeve.

“We have two concrete deals right now. One of them is the one with the Venezuelan government, the other one is more a regular one with a big international company as the main sponsor”, Mauro Gianetti tells me. “We have not signed anything yet, but we hope to close the deal very soon. It could be any day now. For me it doesn’t matter which deal we end up taking. The Venezuelan one is a very interesting project with the government and the other one is with a good, serious company that we know very well. We will see”.

No matter what deal Mauro Gianetti and and Josean Fernández Matxin end up taking, the leader of the team next year will still be Vuelta España winner Juanjo Cobo who, not like Menchov, Duarte, Felline, Ardila etc., has chosen to stay with the team in this difficult time. Also Rafael Valls and David de la Fuente are expected to stay.

Vuelta Rest Day Interview - Mauro Gianetti (Team Manager, GEOX-TMC)

Team Geox finally showed their real potential on the stage to Angliru last Sunday, when Juanjo Cobo won the stage and ripped the red jersey off Bradley Wiggins. I guess I don’t have to point out it was a very happy team manager I talked with on Monday’s rest day.

Mauro, first of all, congratulation! This must be the best rest day for you in a long time?
Thank you. Yes, I am very happy. Since the beginning of the season we have known we had a good team with a good level, but for many reasons we have never been able to really show it. Now it finally happened.

At what point during the Vuelta did you start to think that Cobo could be a player for the overall win?
Well, from the beginning actually. We knew he could do a good GC, since he did top10 two years ago. Normally he would work for the captains, but he managed to stay up front all the time and only lose some time in the time trial. One week ago we told him that he should stay close to Menchov and follow him and only work hard if we really needed it.

Menchov showed on Angliru that he is back at his former great level, what happened to him in the first week?
We really didn’t have a good start. First we lost time in the team time trial when Blanco crashed and then Denis had a mechanical problem and lost time. So after just a few stages he was more than 2½ minutes behind and that made it difficult for him, also for his morale. Also he is not so good at placing himself in the sprints so he has also lost some time there, for example when Sagan took his second stage win [stage 12, Menchov lost 19 seconds, edt.]. But now he is back and that is very important in order to keep the jersey.

What about now. We still have one week to go, what is the plan?
Now we have to defend the jersey as long as possible. Peña Cabarga [on stage 17] is not an easy climb and the stages in Pais Vasco are definitely not easy either. It will be great to ride in the Cantabria region with the jersey. The team has base there and we have the region as sponsor on our jersey, moreover Cobo is also from that region. We really have to stay focused now and keep the concentration all the time.

What can we expect on Peña Cabarga? Will Cobo try to take more time?
It depends on how he feels. It has some very steep parts and is more a climb for Purito-Moreno and Nieve-Antón. But of course if he can, he will try to get some more time and maybe some bonus seconds. We must be smart. It’s now Froom and Wiggins who have to attack.

And who do you see as the strongest of the two?
I think they are on the same level. Froome is very, very strong right now. Also in the time trial. He is closer, but Wiggins has more experience. One week is still a long time and it’s important for them that they are two riders who can attack. We will see what happens.

Last, but not least, Mauro Gianetti also confirmed that the team has reached an agreement with Juanjo Cobo for two more seasons!

Exclusive Interview - Mauro Gianetti (Manager, Team GEOX)

Bringing one of the strongest teams in many years to the Vuelta, Team GEOX is certainly the team to watch during the next three weeks. To get a better picture of what we can expect, I took a chat with team manager Mauro Gianetti about his view on this year’s race.

Mauro, first of all, how do you feel about your team’s chances in the Vuelta?
Well the team is good. Everybody is ready. We are coming to the Vuelta with Denis [Menchov, edt.] to win the race. He has been working hard and reached a good level so everything is good. We also have Carlos [Sastre, edt.] ready to be a big player. I think it’s very important to have two so experienced riders in the team. It's not very often you get to have two riders with Grand Tours wins on the same team for a race.

Let’s take a look at the 9 riders and what their roles are…
Menchov is our leader. He is ready to win - no doubt about that. He is a great, great rider and has already won the Vuelta twice. He has a very high level and together with Purito and Antón he is one of the rider’s who can win the race. Sastre is coming in a good condition as well. The Vuelta is very important to him so we expect him to be one of the key riders. The same goes for Cobo. He has been having a difficult time, but now is he back again with great motivation. He has class and his job is to work for the team in the hard moments uphill and help Denis. He is a very good rider for our team. Blanco is another very important rider for the team. He can help in any aspect of the race. He is ready to use his experience and big class to help the team on both the flat parts and in the moutains. Same goes for Ardila and Kozonchuk. Their main job is to work for the team. Young Brändle is in the race to learn. He has great potential it will be good for him to stay with Denis and Carlos for as long as possible. He is a man for the future! De la Fuente is a good climber and it’s his job to stay with our leaders. He is very important in the first part of the climbs. Last we have Duarte. We hope he can surprise us. It took him a very long time to get back after his knee injury in the Giro, so we have to wait and see.

All the bookmakers have Team GEOX set as the big, big favorite for the team classification and looking at the riders you easily see why…
That’s true. And it’s very good for the morale as well. It means the riders know that we have a great team and that can help on the mentality. We are firstly here to win the race, but the team classification could be a goal later on as well.

What about the opening team time trial?
Honestly I don’t like this discipline so much. Cycling is an individual sport and with the team time trials a good rider can lose a race just because his team isn’t among the best ones. But since this one is only 14 km, there won’t be very big differences. So it’s okay, it’s a good show.

Looking at the rest of the course, what do you think about this year’s route? The long time trial must be good for Menchov’s chances in the GC?
Sure. The time trial is very important, if you can take 1½ min on your rivals it’s important. But every day is different. This year there are so many mountains and uphill finishes, so riders like Antón and Purito still have a good chance of winning the race compared to last year, where Purito lost it in the time trial.

Who is your own personal favorite for the overall victory?
Nibali. He showed last year that he is capable of winning the race so he must be the big favorite.

Last question. Carlos Sastre ends his contract with the team after this season. Will this be his last Vuelta?
Well, we don’t know yet. We will see how the race goes and then Carlos will have to make a decision...

Tour de France - Overview of the experts' picks

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The Tour is now over and I want to thank you all for checking in at the site during the race! The interest has been bigger than I expected, thanks! Let's take a look how well the 4 experts managed to do with their picks:

Thomas Löfkvist : 
Right winner pick: 7
Winner pick in top3: 2

Mauro Gianetti : 

Right winner pick: 5

Winner pick in top3: 1

David Etxebarria :
Right winner pick: 4

Winner pick in top3: 5

Laura Meseguer : 

Right winner pick: 4

Winner pick in top3: 3

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The numbers show that Thomas Löfkvist wins this little intern competition in front of David Etxebarria, Laura Meseguer and Mauro Gianetti. Thanks to the 4 experts for participating!

Well, thats all for me for now. It's about time to get some vacation, so I will change my surroundings in Madrid with new ones in Barcelona for a couple of days. See you all later!

Mikkel Condé 

The Experts' Tour Picks - Stage 21

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Thomas Löfkvist : Mark Cavendish

Mauro Gianetti : Mark Cavendish

David Etxebarria : Mark Cavendish

Laura Meseguer : Mark Cavendish

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Bookmaker's favorite : Mark Cavendish

The Experts' Tour Picks - Stage 20

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Thomas Löfkvist : Fabian Cancellara

Mauro Gianetti : Fabian Cancellara

David Etxebarria : Cadel Evans

Laura Meseguer : Cadel Evans

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Bookmaker's favorite : Fabian Cancellara

The Experts' Tour Picks - Stage 19

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Thomas Löfkvist : Alberto Contador

Mauro Gianetti : Fränk Schleck

David Etxebarria : Damiano Cunego

Laura Meseguer : Fränk Schleck

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Bookmaker's favorite : Fränk Schleck

The Experts' Tour Picks - Stage 18

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Thomas Löfkvist : Andy Schleck

Mauro Gianetti : pending...

David Etxebarria : Alberto Contador

Laura Meseguer : Alberto Contador

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Bookmaker's favorite : Alberto Contador

The Experts' Tour Picks - Stage 17

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Thomas Löfkvist : Simon Gerrans

Mauro Gianetti : Damiano Cunego

David Etxebarria : Jelle Vanendert

Laura Meseguer : Carlos Barredo

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Bookmaker's favorite : Philippe Gilbert

The Experts' Tour Picks - Stage 16

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Thomas Löfkvist : Edvald Boasson Hagen

Mauro Gianetti : Philippe Gilbert

David Etxebarria : Philippe Gilbert

Laura Meseguer : José Joaquin Rojas

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Bookmaker's favorite : Philippe Gilbert

The Experts' Tour Picks - Stage 15

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Thomas Löfkvist : Mark Cavendish

Mauro Gianetti : Mark Cavendish

David Etxebarria : Mark Cavendish

Laura Meseguer : José Joaquin Rojas

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Bookmaker's favorite : Mark Cavendish

The Experts' Tour Picks - Stage 14

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Thomas Löfkvist : Alberto Contador

Mauro Gianetti : Ivan Basso

David Etxebarria : Andy Schleck

Laura Meseguer : Alberto Contador

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Bookmaker's favorite : Alberto Contador

The Experts' Tour Picks - Stage 13

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Thomas Löfkvist : Sandy Casar

Mauro Gianetti : Philippe Gilbert

David Etxebarria : Philippe Gilbert

Laura Meseguer : Philippe Gilbert

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Bookmaker's favorite : Philippe Gilbert

The Experts' Tour Picks - Stage 12

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Thomas Löfkvist : Alberto Contador

Mauro Gianetti : Cadel Evans

David Etxebarria : Fränk Schleck

Laura Meseguer : Alberto Contador

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Bookmaker's favorite : Alberto Contador

The Experts' Tour Picks - Stage 11

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Thomas Löfkvist : Mark Cavendish

Mauro Gianetti : Mark Cavendish

David Etxebarria : Mark Cavendish

Laura Meseguer : Mark Cavendish

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Bookmaker's favorite : Mark Cavendish

The Experts' Tour Picks - Stage 10

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Thomas Löfkvist : Alessandro Petacchi

Mauro Gianetti : Mark Cavendish

David Etxebarria : Jerome Pineau

Laura Meseguer :  Edvald Boasson Hagen

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Bookmaker's favorite : Mark Cavendish

Rest Day update

9 stages done and dusted in this year's Tour de France, the first rest day has arrived and that means that it's time for an update on how well the experts have been doing so far.

Team GEOX's manager Mauro Gianetti started out best with his pick for Gilbert to win stage 1. After that Team Sky's Thomas Löfkvist took over with 3 right winner picks in a row, while he at very same time become a father.

Cycling journalist Laura Meseguer has been consistently with her pick, hitting right winners and top3s four times within the first 9 stages. To end it all up former pro-rider David Etxebarria managed to pick out Voeckler for the win (Voeckler took 2nd place and yellow jersey) on stage 9, where Etxebarria himself won in 1999.

Thomas Löfkvist - 3 right winner picks (all in row! stage 5, 6 & 7)
Laura Meseguer - 2 right winner picks & 2 winner picks in top3 (stage 3, 5, 6 & 7)
Mauro Gianetti - 2 right winner picks (stage 1 & 7)
David Etxebarria - 1 right winner pick & 2 winner picks in top3 (stage 4, 7 & 9)

All in all a pretty good start for the experts. Tuesday we will find out if they can keep up the rate. Stay tuned!