Alessio–Bianchi was an Italian professional cycling team which existed from 1998 to 2004. It was created in 1998 as Ballan. In 1999 Italian wheels manufacturer Alessio came in as co-sponsor, and in 2000 as main sponsor. The team was dissolved by the end of the 2004 season.
| Team information | |
|---|---|
| UCI code | ALB |
| Registered | Italy |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Disbanded | 2004 |
| Discipline(s) | Road |
| Bicycles | Bianchi |
| Key personnel | |
| General manager | Bruno Cenghialta |
| Team name history | |
1998 1999 2000–2003 2004 | Ballan Ballan-Alessio Alessio Alessio-Bianchi |
History edit
The team began in 1998 as Ballan.[1] Flavio Miozzo, the team director said he selected the riders for the team very carefully filling a roster of only fourteen riders and hoping to race in some of the largest races in the world.[2]
2004 edit
The final year of the team started with a team presentation in Italy with Bianchi coming across from the now defunct Team Coast to sponsor the team.[3] In early February news surfaced of the team being unable to pay some of their Scandinavian riders.[4] On 13 February 2004 Memory Corp came in as a new sponsor to cover the wages of the riders who missed theirs.[5] The team's first win came in Stage 3 of Giro della Provincia di Lucca by Alessandro Bertolini which led to Bertolini taking the leaders jersey by 1:51. Bertolini was one of eighteen who finished inside the time limit of the stage after the peloton allowed the break to get an advantage of over thirty minutes.[6] Bertolini held onto the jersey to take the overall finishing 9 seconds down on the stage 4 winner Florent Brard.[7] One of the Team's goals was the 2004 Tour de France with Pietro Caucchioli being their man in contention for the overall.[8] The team had two riders finish in the top 10 of Stage 3.[9]
Final Roster (2004) edit
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Major wins edit
Sources:[12]
- 1998
- Stage 1 Giro di Calabria, Endrio Leoni
- Stage 4 Tirreno–Adriatico, Gabriele Colombo
- Stage 3a Four Days of Dunkirk, Alexandre Gontchenkov
- Stage 5 Four Days of Dunkirk, Gabriele Colombo
- Luk-Cup Bühl, Piotr Ugrumov
- 1999
- Stage 5 Tour Méditerranéen, Fabio Baldato
- Trofeo Pantalica, Andrea Ferrigato
- Berner Rundfahrt, Andrea Ferrigato
- Stage 4 Giro del Trentino, Alexandre Gontchenkov
- Stage 2 Four Days of Dunkirk, Andrea Ferrigato
- Stage 1 OBV Classic, Carlo Finco
- Stage 2 Danmark Rundt, Fabio Baldato
- Stage 3 Danmark Rundt, Nicola Loda
- Stage 4 Tour de Suisse, Gilberto Simoni
- 2001
- Stage 2 & 8 Tirreno–Adriatico, Endrio Leoni
- Stages 8 & 17 Giro d'Italia, Pietro Caucchioli
- 2002
- Stage 6 Tirreno–Adriatico, Franco Pellizotti
- Stage 4 Tour of the Basque Country, Franco Pellizotti
- Stages 17 & 20 Vuelta a España, Angelo Furlan
- 2003
- Stage 5 Tirreno–Adriatico, Ruggero Marzoli
- Stage 3 Tour de Romandie, Laurent Dufaux
- Stage 2 Giro d'Italia, Fabio Baldato
- 2004
- Overall Giro della Provincia di Lucca, Alessandro Bertolini
- Stage 3, Alessandro Bertolini
- Gran Premio di Chiasso, Franco Pellizotti
- Paris-Roubaix, Magnus Bäckstedt
- Stage 5 Course de la Paix, Martin Hvastija
- Stage 1 Route du Sud, Cristian Moreni
Italy Road Race Championships, Cristian Moreni- Scandinavian Open Road Race, Marcus Ljungqvist
- Coppa Bernocchi, Angelo Furlan
- Stages 1 & 4 Tour de Pologne, Fabio Baldato
References edit
- ^ "Ballan 1998". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
- ^ "News for January 16, 1998". Cycling News. 16 January 1998. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
- ^ "Alessio-Bianchi team presentation". Cycling News. 24 January 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
- ^ "Alessio-Bianchi problems being resolved". CyclingNews. 11 February 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
- ^ "Memory Corp comes good for Alessio-Bianchi". CyclingNews. 13 February 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
- ^ "Bertolini best of what's left". CyclingNews. 26 February 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
- ^ "Brard takes final stage". CyclingNews. 27 February 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
- ^ "Alessio-Bianchi names Tour team". cyclingnews.com. 28 June 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
- ^ "Mayo's Wasquehal Waterloo". cyclingnews.com. 6 July 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
- ^ "Alessio - Bianchi Roster 2004". CyclingNews. 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
- ^ "Alessio - Bianchi 2004". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
- ^ "Alessio - Bianchi 2004". cyclingarchives.com. Retrieved 22 August 2022.