Exclusive Interview - Gianni Savio (Team Manager, Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela)

Gianni Savio.

Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela managed to win the Italian Team Championship for the second year in a row and by that secure a spot in next year’s Giro d’Italia. All in all Gianni Savio’s team won 17 races this season so naturally the Italian team manager was very satisfied with how 2012 turned out.

Gianni, first of all congratulations on winning the championship.

Thank you! It was very important to us. First of all because it’s an honor to win the Italian Championship and secondly because we now have a wild card for the Giro d’Italia next year. It’s good that we can start the next season without any stress.

I take it you are quite satisfied with this season?
Indeed! I’m very, very satisfied with this year and to be honest it will be more than difficult to repeat it next year. But of course we will try. We always have the same passion and determination, but... It will not be easy to do as well as this year.

What has been the best moment for the team this year?

I would like you point out three moments. The first one is the Giro d’Italia stage we won with Miguel Angel Rubiano. It was a fantastic day and he was even virtual maglia rosa in the last kilometer. The second moment was when Franco Pellizotti won the Italian Championship. We signed him in May just before the Giro after he had come back from a very difficult time and for him to win the Italian Champions was unbelievable, not only for his career but also for himself as a person. The last one was in Giro dell'Emilia where we secured the Italian Team Championship. There was a ‘sporting war’ going on between Androni and Colnago and luckily for us Pellizotti [ending 3^rd] managed to keep Pozzovivo [ending 4^th] behind him. Don’t forget that if Pozzovivo had won this race, Colnago would have won the Championship!

What about the worst moment of the season?

Hmm… Maybe the beginning of Giro di Padania. Colnago won the TTT and the day after Modolo won a stage. It really didn’t look good for our team [thinking of the Italian Championship], but we managed to finish in a very strong way. We showed a lot of character and determination by putting two riders [Chiarini & Pellizotti] on the final podium behind Nibali.

Looking ahead. How do you see your team next year?

I think we still have a very competitive team. We managed to keep most of our important riders, so next year we will be able to count on Pellizotti, Sella, Felline, Chiarini and Rubiano. I think we have a good team. Furthermore I have signed some very promising young riders such as Matteo Di Serafino and Diego Rosa who is an incredible climber. I would have liked to keep both Ferrari, Serpa and De Marchi but they all got some very good offers from the ProTour teams and with our budget we simply couldn’t match that. My philosophy has always been to be able to pay everybody on the team; riders, mechanics, soigneurs etc. etc. and therefore we couldn’t afford to keep those riders.

And a quick comment about Rujano?

Well… This year Rujano did nothing. Nothing at all. He didn’t finish the Giro and generally he didn’t do well this season. Not only on a sporting level but also on a moral level. 

In the past you have been the only manager able to get results from Rujano. Do you think he will succeed at Vacansoleil-DCM?
It’s impossible to say if he will manage to do well with his new team. Rujano is a very special person with a mind of his own and only - only, only, only - Rujano knows what Rujano will be able to do.

You have one the brightest talents in Fabio Felline on your team. What can we expect from him in 2013?

Felline is still very young and it’s important not to put any pressure on him. That being said, I still think he will have a very good season next year and I think he will be a protagonist in the classics and in the Giro d’Italia. There are many good stages for him in the Giro. In the U23 World Champions he was one of the favorites, but I don’t think the Italian team rode like a team. When I give directions to my riders before a race everybody knows their role, but in the U23 race the Italian team seemed confused. Felline was alone in the final and he had already spent too much energy on attacking. I think that with another strategy it could have turned out differently for him.

Androni Giocattoli - Venezuela just had their first team meeting of the season in Rivarolo Canavese where they were presented with the prize of winning the Italian Team Championship. The team will get together again in the middle of December [9-16] before starting the new season in Argentina with Tour de San Luis.

Even though 2012 has been a huge success for the team, Gianni Savio hasn’t given up on the idea of joining the world’s elite and upgrade to the UCI WorldTour. You can read all about this by clicking here.

GIRO EXCLUSIVE - Gianni Savio sums up the 1st week of Giro d'Italia

Despite bad luck for José Serpa, team manager
Gianni Savio still smiles and hope for another
stage win in the final two weeks of the Giro.

Just like last year Androni Giocattoli managed to take a stage win early in the Giro d’Italia. Miguel Angel Rubiano won stage 6 after a long breakaway and on stage 9 youngster Fabio Felline took second place after Francisco Ventoso.

Needless to say, team manager - and Giro Expert during the race on this site - Gianni Savio is very satisfied with the first week of the Italian Grand Tour.

“Rubiano’s win was very, very good for us after Serpa broke his finger and also today [stage 9]Felline was able to do good stage and almost got the victory. This has been a good first week I think”, Gianni Savio tells.

Unfortunately José Serpa hasn’t been able to do much good in the uphill sections ever since he broke his finger and that means that he Columbian now needs to get another x-ray in order to determine if he should continue in the race or not. Before the Giro started, Gianni Savio was expecting Serpa to do top10 in the overall classification but after a week of racing it could already be over.

Another rider who hasn’t been quite up there with the big favorites is team leader José Rujano. After 9 stages (yet not any real mountains) Rujano is 34th in the overall classification - 2,39 minutes behind maglia rosa Ryder Hesjedal. Gianni Savio explains:

“I think Rujano has had a normal race so far. He hasn’t been doing so well but he hasn’t been bad either. I think he is rider that will increase his condition during the Giro so we will wait and see what he can do in the last week. That is where you win the Giro”.

Thanks to Miguel Angel Rubiano’s stage win, Androni Giocattoli still has the blue mountain jersey to defend and according to Gianni Savio they won’t let it go cheap.

"This is definitely a goal for us now. We will try to keep this jersey all the way”, he assures.

Giro d’Italia continues Tuesday with stage 10 to Assisi and after being right about almost every single stage so far, you really shouldn’t forget to read Gianni Savio’s preview of the stage right here on C-Cycling later tonight.

Giro Expert Preview - Stage 8

Gianni Savio explains:

This could be another day for a breakaway to stay clear of the peloton. I think that we could end up having a stage with two different fights. One fight in the breakaway for the stage win and another fight in the peloton among the GC-favorites on the last climb.

It’s difficult to pick a winner on a stage like this, but on paper it looks very good for my riders. Rubiano again, Serpa if he is okay and also Jackson Rodriguez. I don’t think it’s hard enough for Rujano.

Exclusive Interview - Gianni Savio (Team Manager, Androni)

Gianni Savio and his Androni team have very
high expectations for this year's Giro d'Italia.

The Androni team have high hopes for their team leader in the Giro d’Italia, José Rujano, and according to team manager Gianni Savio the little Venezuelan isn’t the only rider with good chances of success. I made the following interview with Gianni Savio about his team’s ambitions in the Italian Grand Tour.

“First of all we want to be protagonists. We hope to get a rider on the podium. José Rujano was already on the podium back in 2005 and I hope he can be there this year too. He is our team leader, but we have also two other riders who can do something big in this race, José Serpa and Emanuelle Sella. Also we have a good sprinter in Roberto Ferrari and a great young rider in Fabio Felline. All in all we have a good compact team and I think we will be protagonists in this Giro”.

What about the team classification, is that a goal too?
For sure! We hope to be on the podium as winners of the team classification. That is a goal for us. Last year we were second in the team points classification and this year I hope we can be on the podium for the time classification.

How is Rujano coming into this Giro compared to last year?
I think that he is a little bit better this time actually. He has prepared very well for this Giro. He was second in Langkawi where we won with Serpa and after that he did well in Italy, in Giro del Trentino, so I think he is ready. Plus he is also a rider who is able to increase his condition during the Giro, which is very important for the last week. 

Can he win this Giro?
There is no doubts that Rujano has the possibility to win the Giro but with him nothing is certain. For sure I hope he will win, but we will have to wait and see.

How about Roberto Ferrari, what do you expect from in this Giro?
Ferrari had some stomach problems when he started the season in Tour de San Luis and withdrew. After that he began very well [1 stage win and 3 second places in Tour de Taiwan] and he has now three wins this season. He is a good sprinter, for sure, but it is not easy for him, because here you have riders like Cavendish, Hushovd etc, so it won’t be easy to win. To be realistic, I would say he can do top3 or top5 in the mass sprints.

And Fabio Felline?
Well, I think there have been some mistakes in Felline’s race programs in the past. For me he was too young to participate in the Tour de France for example. The way I see it, it wasn’t good for him. Felline is from my town where I live [Torino] and I always explain to his many fans that it’s important not to put too much pressure on him. He needs to progress gradually. But for sure I hope that he will win a stage in this Giro. 
There are many stages that suit him very well.

Who is your favorite for the overall victory?
Personally I would be very happy if Michele Scarponi wins this Giro. He used to be one of my riders. I signed him back when nobody wanted to touch him [after Operación Puerto] and with us he won three stages in the Giro, he got 4th overall in the Giro, he won Tirreno-Adriatico and suddenly all the teams wanted to sign him. Actually he called me after Giro dell'Appennino where he was in the breakaway. At one point it looked like the breakaway could make it to the finish so I put the whole team in front to catch him and we won with Felline. Afterwards he called me and said he was very happy for us winning the race, even though it meant we had to catch him first. We have a good relationship and I would be happy if he wins the Giro.

Who else do you think will be up there?
Ivan Basso looks good, Roman Kreuziger too. Purito and Pozzovivo will also be there together with Fränk Schleck who I think will do a great Giro. There is not a superman this year and because of that I think we will get a very open and very interesting Giro this time.

Androni brings a team full of climbers. Is the mountain jersey also a goal for you?
Well, we will see. It’s not our first goal. It will depend on how the race goes but for sure we will try to get it if it’s possible. First of all we aim for a stage win and then afterwards we will see if we can also go for the mountain jersey too.

Do you have any specific stages red-circled already?
No. I think the most important stage will be the one to Stelvio [Stage 20] but in cycling nothing is certain. We all may think that Stelvio will be the key, but then maybe in Cervinia [Stage 14] everything changes. Remember two years ago in L'Aquila [The stage where a big breakaway with Carlos Sastre & David Arroyo among others got away with 12 minutes to the peloton]? What many forget is that it was Androni who back then saved the Giro! I personally stopped three riders of my riders in the breakaway to get back to the peloton where we started to chase, chase and chase. If we hadn’t done that, the Giro would have ended on that stage and Arroyo would have won overall.

As Giro Expert during the race Gianni Savio will give a preview of each stage and his winner pick for all the stages in this year’s Giro d’Italia. You will find Savio’s latest preview on the front page and can see all of them by clicking here.

This interview was made before José Serpa broke a finger on his right hand on Stage 2 and before Roberto Ferrari caused Mark Cavendish to crash on Stage 3.