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.

History

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

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)

As of 1 January 2004[10][11]
Rider Date of birth
 Magnus Bäckstedt (SWE) (1975-01-30)30 January 1975 (aged 28)
 Fabio Baldato (ITA) (1968-06-13)13 June 1968 (aged 35)
 Alessandro Bertolini (ITA) (1971-07-27)27 July 1971 (aged 32)
 Pietro Caucchioli (ITA) (1975-08-28)28 August 1975 (aged 28)
 Raffaele Ferrara (ITA) (1976-10-03)3 October 1976 (aged 27)
 Angelo Furlan (ITA) (1977-06-21)21 June 1977 (aged 26)
 Martin Hvastija (SLO) (1969-11-30)30 November 1969 (aged 34)
 Ruslan Ivanov (MDA) (1973-12-18)18 December 1973 (aged 30)
 René Jørgensen (DEN) (1975-07-26)26 July 1975 (aged 28)
 Marcus Ljungqvist (SWE) (1974-10-26)26 October 1974 (aged 29)
Rider Date of birth
 Denis Lunghi (ITA) (1976-01-21)21 January 1976 (aged 27)
 Vladimir Miholjević (HRV) (1974-01-18)18 January 1974 (aged 29)
 Cristian Moreni (ITA) (1972-11-21)21 November 1972 (aged 31)
 Claus Michael Møller (DEN) (1968-10-00)October 1968 (aged 35)
 Andrea Noè (ITA) (1969-01-15)15 January 1969 (aged 34)
 Franco Pellizotti (ITA) (1978-01-15)15 January 1978 (aged 25)
 Ellis Rastelli (ITA) (1975-01-18)18 January 1975 (aged 28)
 Michael Skelde (DEN) (1973-08-13)13 August 1973 (aged 30)
 Scott Sunderland (AUS) (1966-11-28)28 November 1966 (aged 37)
 Andrea Tafi (ITA) (1966-05-07)7 May 1966 (aged 37)

Major wins

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

  1. ^ "Ballan 1998". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  2. ^ "News for January 16, 1998". Cycling News. 16 January 1998. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Alessio-Bianchi team presentation". Cycling News. 24 January 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Alessio-Bianchi problems being resolved". CyclingNews. 11 February 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Memory Corp comes good for Alessio-Bianchi". CyclingNews. 13 February 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  6. ^ "Bertolini best of what's left". CyclingNews. 26 February 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  7. ^ "Brard takes final stage". CyclingNews. 27 February 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Alessio-Bianchi names Tour team". cyclingnews.com. 28 June 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Mayo's Wasquehal Waterloo". cyclingnews.com. 6 July 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  10. ^ "Alessio - Bianchi Roster 2004". CyclingNews. 2004. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  11. ^ "Alessio - Bianchi 2004". www.procyclingstats.com. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
  12. ^ "Alessio - Bianchi 2004". cyclingarchives.com. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessio%E2%80%93Bianchi
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