Haven't seen you for a while! Welcome back, and good luck with this. I personally think Pirazzi is a better climber than what those stats suggest but anyway, a nice start.
You're right about Pirazzi. Probably desires to be at least in the high 60s, maybe 70. Thoughts?
News
Scouting in Italy
Scout Gianluca Zanini has been sent by team management to the Emilia-Romagna region in central Italy. The area is known for its climbers and punchy riders. On Colnago, Manuel Belletti and Filippo Savini hail from the area; born in Cesena and Faenza respectively. Cesena is the birthplace of Marco Pantani.
The region has also produced controversial riders such as Enrico Rossi and Riccardo Riccò. The two riders have been involved with numerous run-ins with anti-doping agents over the years. They rode together at Ceramica Flaminia, and Riccò dates Enrico's sister, Vania.
Montecchio Emilia, a commune nestled in the region, is the location of CSF Inox's headquarters.
Early Season Schedule
1.23 - 2.1
2.HC
Le Tour de Langkawi
1.28 - 1.30
2.1
Giro della Calabria
2.5
1.1
G.P. Costa degli Etruschi
2.19
1.1
Trofeo Laigueglia
2.22 - 2.26
2.1
Giro di Sardegna
2.26
1.1
GP dell'Insubria - Lugano
2.27
1.1
GP di Lugano
2.27
1.1
Classica Sarda Sassari - Cagliari
Championship Weekend in Australia
Simon Gerrans and Richie Porte took home wins in the Australian National Championships.
Gerrans conquered the hilly course to finish first. A late kick saw him best Cadel Evans by 21 seconds. Entering his second year with Team Sky, Gerrans was the U-23 Australian champion way back in 2002. Chris Sutton brought home a small group of riders to finish in 3rd.
Beginning a second season after a very successful debut, Porte finished the 38.1km course in 44'37. Porte is expected to be an important domestique for new teammate Alberto Contador.
Santos Tour Down Under
Staying in Australia, the season's first World Tour race is set to begin in Mawson Lakes. With all 18 of the Pro Tour teams registered, there was only room for 4 wildcard entries. They went to Androni Giocattoli, Team Europcar, FDJ, and Geox - TMC.
The race is expected to be the first opportunity for fans to see rivals Mark Cavendish and André Greipel race head-to-head.
Crashes mar the event; Tiralongo takes overall win
The 16th edition of Le Tour de Langkawi saw Italian Paolo Tiralongo take the overall win. The veteran Astana rider has served as a domestique for most of his career, but was given the chance to lead, and repaid his team's faith and hard work with victory. Tiralongo won the fifth stage, and did the best job of any contenders by avoiding the crashes.
Unaccustomed to yellow, Tiralongo and his Astana teammate's did a great job protecting the lead.
Nervous riding and poor road quality helped contribute to numerous crashes during the ten stages. The biggest crash occurred during to run-in to Sitiawan in Stage 3. 2 separate, massive crashes in the last 10km of the day took out much of peloton as they chased a breakaway. All told, 13 riders did not finish the race due to injury. Movistar was especially hard hit, losing Luis Pasamontes and Beñat Intxausti. Colnago lost Angelo Pagani to a broken collarbone; he is out until mid-March.
Colnago leader Domenico Pozzovivo lost 2'16 to his rivals on the third day.
Pozzovivo was unable to avoid Gorazd Štangelj, losing a lot of time during Stage 3.
A traffic circle, 1.5km from the finish, caused havoc on Stage 10.
From the beginning of the race, it was clear many in the peloton were just trying to get their legs underneath them. Jake Keough of UnitedHealthcare won the first stage with a late attack from the breakaway group. His move countered Omar Lombardi's attempt. The inability by the sprinters' teams to organize an effective chase was surprising.
Keough celebrates his victory.
René Obst of Team NSP was the quickest finisher in the next two stages, but only took one win. In Stage 2, Obst obliterated the field, easily beating Kris Boeckmans of Topsport and Marcel Kittel of Skil - Shimano. The massive crashes in Stage 3 derailed any hope of catching the breakaway, with Team NetApp's David Hesselbarth winning. Obst led the chasers in 36" later in 11th, good enough to take over the points competition.
Obst was strong in the first couple sprints.
Stage 4 would be the start of two days in the Malaysian mountains. Over the next two days, Pozzovivo, despite his earlier bad luck, showed he was the best climber in the field.
Pozzovivo and his Colnago teammates executed a brilliant plan on Stage 4, enabling the diminutive climber to secure the stage victory. Early in the day, Paolo Locatelli and Alberto Contoli went up the road with the breakaway group. With the long climbs in the Cameron Highlands approaching, they were in perfect position to help Pozzovivo should he launch an attack, which is exactly what he did.
Pozzovivo goes on the attack, looking to make up time.
45km from the end of the day, Pozzovivo attacked the peloton. He was able to quickly ride up the climb, moving through the various groups of riders on the road. When he was 5km from the top, he linked up with his teammates Locatelli and Contoli. They immediately buried themselves, allowing Pozzovivo to take a bit of breather. Once they were exhausted, Pozzovivo was off on his own again.
Locatelli and Contoli work hard, allowing Pozzovivo to have a few moments of respite.
Behind him, the peloton struggled to react. Eventually, Tiralongo, Pablo Lastras, and Eduard Vorganov countered. The three worked well together over the final kilometers, and were able to claw back some of Pozzovivo's advantage, but still finished over a minute down.
Pozzovivo's daring attack saw him move up into 4th overall and climb atop the mountains classification. Pablo Lastras had moved into the race lead.
Pozzovivo celebrates his magnificent ride.
Seemingly all exhausted from the previous day, Stage 5 did not see the same kind of excitement, but still proved decisive. Race leader Lastras faltered a bit, coming in 6th and losing 54" to Tiralongo. This enabled Tiralongo to grab the leader's jersey, something he did not relinquish the rest of the race.
Pozzovivo climbed very confidently, but did not have the energy to make another attack. Lacking team support, he rode with Tiralongo and Alberto Losada up the entire climb, finishing on the same time in 3rd. This result all but wrapped up the mountains jersey for Pozzovivo, but due to the earlier crash, he still found himself in 4th. With 5 flat stages left, it was always going to be hard to improve on this position.
Tiralongo bests the climb, jumping into the race lead in the process.
The remaining stages were rather devoid of any notable action. Marcel Kittel began to find the winning speed, taking two stages, including the final in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur. Nevertheless, it was consistent sprinting of Stage 9 winner, Boeckmans who narrowly pipped the young German for the points jersey.
Kittel narrowly missed the points jersey, but his two stage victories were the most by any rider.
David Bernabéu of Andalucía Caja Granada and Martin Gilbert of Team SpiderTech powered by C10 were the remaining stage winners. Bernabéu won from a breakaway, while Gilbert took advantage of crash-filled sprint.
Bernabéu's close win.
Gilbert's win is a great result for his Canadian team.
Despite the crashes, Le Tour de Langkawi provided some great moments for the fans. 9 different stage winners and numerous attacks, both successful and not. Colnago was disappointed to lose Pagani for such a long time, but happy with Pozzovivo's riding.
valverde321 wrote:
What an awesome win for Gilbert
And nice 4th in the GC, as well as stage win for Pozzovivo.
Looks like someone got a new computer too
Thanks. Looking back, it was a pretty winnable race, but Pozzovivo lost too much time because of the crash.
I did get a new computer! It's not amazing, but certainly better than my last one. I can actually run PCM with some detail! It is a beautiful game.
I'll probably have the Giro della Calabria and G.P. Costa degli Etruschi up some time later tonight. I will continue to update in the fashion I did for Langkawi for the time being. When I get more into the season, I will likely switch to stage by stage reports.
Almost missed Tuco's comeback as story-writer! Nice to see you back with a story, also I like your team-choice (and your avatar, btw - one of my favourite films) Plenty of stories to follow now with Pellizotti2 and baia starting with new ones, too. But it's worth following Good luck with Colnago!
@ tsmoha: Thanks. You haven't missed anything much so far.
I just realized that in my first report the pictures were in .png format. They will be in .jpg format going forward so the page doesn't take so long to load.
Giro della Calabria
Grega Bole wins; Frapporti takes 10th
After a promising 2010 campaign, young Slovenian, Grega Bole (Lampre - ISD), took the overall title at this year's Giro della Calabria. With a strong 5th in the first stage, and a victory in the second stage to Vibo Valentia, Bole proved he had the best early season form, beating Quick·Step's Kevin Seeldraeyers by 18 seconds.
For Colnago - CSF Inox, this was the team's first race on Italian soil. Most the team's racing schedule will take place on Lo Stivale, and getting good results will be important for the sponsors. With half the team in Malaysia, Colnago lined up with a strong line up, featuring Marco Frapporti, Sacha Modolo, and Manuel Belletti.
All three stages of the race had hilly parcours.
The first stage was dominated by a breakaway. The peloton reacted poorly to its formation and lead, and as the day's racing was drawing to an end, it remained doubtful they would be caught. In the final kilometers, Bole, Seeldraeyers, and several other riders attacked enough to catch the remnants of the group. Frapporti tried to react, but could not quite keep the pace.
Bole could not shake Seeldraeyers on the climb into Catanzaro.
Included in the "remnants," was Gianluca Brambilla, who made the original breakaway. He was dropped on the final hills by his stronger companions, but still hung on to finish the stage in 16th. A good ride from a promising rider.
Although not strong enough to make it to the finish, Brambilla showed a good attacking eye.
However, the first day, and the race leader's jersey, belonged to Stanislav Kozúbek (PSK Whirlpool - Author). The Czech rider was able to outmaneuver Gianluca Maggiore (De Rosa - Ceramica Flaminia), Sergey Kolesnikov (Amore & Vita), and the rest of his fellow breakaway riders to take the win.
Kozúbek moves away at the bottom of the final climb.
Kozúbek celebrates his win.
On the second stage, no such breakaway was allowed to get away. Only Simone Stortoni and Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre - ISD) got away from the main field. The two worked well together, and rode hard, but there was too much flat ground before the final climb for them to succeed.
Stortoni and Niemiec, ridining in the rain.
The decisive climb of the day was the 20km from the finish in the coastal commune of Vibo Valentia. Here, Seeldraeyers initiated the attacks. His initial move was countered by Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil - DCM), Andrea Noè (Farnese Vini), and Frapporti.
Seeldraeyers started the attacking early.
Frapporti and Noè weren't able to completely stay with Seeldraeyers and Hoogerland. The two found themselves 20" behind, but a minute up on the peloton.
Back in the peloton, there was no immediate reaction to the move. Eventually, and calmly, Bole moved on the offensive. He was closing fast.
Bole, 5th on the road, sees every rider ahead of him.
Due to the flat run-in, Alexander Efimkin (Team Type 1) and Davide Rebellin (Miche - Guerciotti), along with Frapporti, Bole, and Noè came together with Seeldraeyers and Hoogerland.
5km to go, the leading group. Frapporti barely hanging on.
Noè jumped with 2km to go, and found himself with some daylight. However, the final climb into the village hit him like a ton of bricks. He immediately entered the red and started pedaling squares. The freshest looking was Bole, who moved clear of the rest of the chasers.
Bole, eyeing Noè and the final climb.
Bole shot past Noè, and was able to maintain his speed. Seeldraeyers fought, dragging Hoogerland with him, but was unable to reel in the Slovenian.
Bole's strong riding enabled him to secure the stage. An initial attack from Seeldraeyers saw him distanced, but Bole was calm, and slowly made his way back up to the Belgian, before passing him as they went under the flamme rouge.
Bole caps a mature ride with a stage win.
Behind them, in the final meters, there was a lot of fighting for the minor places. Once again, Frapporti could not quite keep up with the pace. He finished the stage in 7th, 1'03 behind Bole.
The third stage, like the first, was won by a rider from a breakaway. Daniele Callegarin (Team Type 1), was able to outsprint Michele Gaia (Miche - Guerciotti) and Tomasz Nose (Adria Mobil) to win, 1'40 ahead the peloton.
Calegarin wins the final stage from a breakaway.
The peloton was lead in by Frapporti, who launched a late attack, in hopes of gaining some seconds to improve his positioning. Protecting the positions of his Vacansoleil teammates Thomas De Gendt and Johnny Hoogerland, Santo Anza was able to bring the other contenders to Frapporti's wheel by the line.
Frapporti fought hard, but could not remain clear of the peloton in the closing kilometers.
Bole finished in 23rd, well within the main group, allowing him to capture the title.
The reactions in the Colnago camp were mixed. Frapporti's 10th place finish, and Brambilla's ride were praised. However, sponsor's had been asking for a stage win, and missing out on a winning breakaway move has to be questioned.
Van Impe clings to victory; Modolo's strong sprint too late, but good for 2nd.
Kevin Van Impe (Quick·Step) surged from the peloton with a late attack, and was able to hold off a fast closing Modolo to take the win. In the process, Van Impe becomes the first rider other than Alessandro Petacchi to win the event since 2004. He also becomes only the 4th non-Italian to win the event in 16 editions.
Modolo, coming off a relatively quiet performance in the Giro della Calabria, showed the power in his legs, coming very close to catching a slowing Van Impe. In his second race of the season, a victory would've done wonders for his confidence, however, it still must be considered a good result.
The weather was dreadful on the day, and clearly zapped most of the riders attacking spirit. Vladimir Miholjevic (Acqua & Sapone) initiated a move. Federico Canuti and Scott Stewart (Team Type 1) were the only riders to go with him.
The break on a rainy day.
Once the breakaway had established its lead, Canuti found himself doing the majority of the work. When he asked Miholjevic and Stewart to take their turns, they refused. When he put in a little dig, the two worked together to ride back to him. Canuti thought about sitting up, but decided against it. His frustration was visibly clear when he pulled up beside Miholjevic, berating the Croatian rider.
After the race, he refused to comment on what was said.
Nevertheless, the three riders continued to go along at Canuti's pace. With the finish approaching, the peloton was closing, and Milholjevic cowardly attacked.
Miholjevic attacks Canuti, after doing no work.
Thankfully, with 15km to go, the peloton reeled in Miholjevic. Given the way he rode, he did not deserve a win. It will be interesting to see if the hostilities from this race continue further into the season.
With the finish approaching, a sprint finish looked likely. However, with 10km to go, Van Impe jumped. Vitaliy Popkov (ISD CT) followed his first move. But a second kick, dropped him and saw him 30' clear.
Van Impe attacks in the closing kilometers.
Alone against the field, Van Impe pedaled as fast as he could. Farnese Vini, pulled the peloton along, hoping to set up Andrea Guardini.
Van Impe fighting off the peloton.
Colnago was trying to make sprint train for Sacha Modolo. First was to be Marco Frapporti, then Manuel Belletti, then Modolo. However, Oscar Gatto (Farnese Vini) and Guardini interrupted this, as they sat on Belletti's wheel.
Colnago improvised, using Belletti as a decoy, and sent Frapporti up ahead with Modolo.
Approaching the flamme rouge, the two were in perfect position, at the head of the field. However, Van Impe was a good distance ahead.
The two dirtied riders try to catch Van Impe.
As Modolo launched from Frapporti's slipstream, it was clear Colnago's tactic had worked well. Guardini and the other sprinters were ill-positioned, and it would now come down to Modolo vs. Van Impe.
For a moment, it looked as if Modolo was going to catch the Belgian, but the road ran out. Van Impe crossed just ahead of the young Italian.
Van Impe holds on.
With three races down, and two weeks before the Trofeo Laigueglia, Colnago has started their season on the right foot. A stage win, a runner-up finish, and a mountains classification is a good haul for the team.
Great story so far, i like the fast reports from the minor races. Nice 2nd by Modolo in G.P. Etruschi.
Btw. i hope Bole will be this good in Calabria also in my story
@ Avin Wargunnson: Thanks. Bole has always been very good when I've raced against him in the past couple versions of PCM. Don't think I've ever actually played as him though.
@ baia: Thanks. Hoping my results are good enough to get entries into T-A and MSR.
Trofeo Laigueglia
Enrico Gasparotto wins in a sprint
With no decisive move made, the veteran Italian was the fastest down the final straight, taking the victory. The Astana rider had Eros Capecchi (Liquigas) in his wheel, but was able to capture the win comfortably.
Ultimately, 20 riders came in with Gasparotto. Domenico Pozzovivo was the highest placed Colnago rider, finishing in 9th.
The day began with very little movement. Manuel Belletti attacked, hoping to form a breakaway. However, no riders followed him. Daringly, he attempted to forge ahead solo.
Belletti off on his lonely ride.
Belletti soon found a good rhythm and was extending his lead over the hilly course. The peloton was relatively relaxed, sure it could reel in the lone ride when needed.
The peloton had to ride harder than they probably anticipated. Liquigas - Cannondale set the pace for much of the day, and under the riding of Valerio Agnoli, caught Belletti near the crest of the final climb. Now, 23 riders were in the final group.
Belletti gets caught on the final climb of the day, he worked very hard on the day.
Gasparotto launched a small attack on the crest of this climb, but was unable to create any real separation. This scenario was the order of the day.
Gasparotto couldn't get away, but illustrated his strength.
The run-in the line was flat, but it didn't stop riders from trying to attack. First Sergey Rudaskov (Itera - Katusha) attacked. After Agnoli chased him down, a bigger group left. This group included Capecchi, Pozzovivo, and Francesco Ginanni (Androni). However, this too was reeled in.
Pozzovivo and a dangerous group got a little gap, but it was closed down.
As the line approached, it was clear the win would be decided in a sprint. Pozzovivo did his best to position himself, and did well to finish in 9th.
A bit ahead of him, Gasparotto found himself ahead of the field. Capecchi was on his wheel.
Capecchi on Gasparotto's wheel.
Capecchi did not have as quick a turn of speed, and could not overtake Gasparotto. The Astana rider moved a bit clear of the peloton, having time to savor the win.
Gasparotto takes his first win of the season.
After a two week break, it was good for Colnago to get back to racing. Unfortunately, after the race, the team was informed it would not be invited to Tirreno - Adriatico. In a few weeks, the team will learn whether they will get to race in Milano - San Remo.
@ baia: Thanks. Anything I can get out of Pozzovivo in the hills is good. He's more of a mountain climber, and really not that special over such ground. Unfortunately, he's the best I have.
Giro di Sardegna
Purito "smokes" the competition in Sardinia
Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha), behind the strength of two stage wins, bested two controversial riders in Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) and teammate Danilo Di Luca to take the overall victory on the roads of the idyllic Mediterranean island. Building for the Ardennes classics, Rodríguez showed he is in great form, being the strongest rider over the hilly and mountainous slopes.
Rodríguez celebrates his dominant win.
Domenico Pozzovivo continued a strong start to the season finishing in 5th, one spot behind Team Type 1's Vladimir Efimkin. Pozzovivo was hoping to display his climbing prowess in the Tirreno - Adriatico, a race he finished in 7th last year. However, his Colnago team was denied entrance.
The first stage, as has been somewhat commonplace in this season, caught the peloton out. A breakaway of 12 riders formed in the early kilometers. Its composition was mostly of riders from secondary teams, and its clear the main contenders gave it much thought.
The breakaway was given a lot of room by the peloton.
As the riders climbed the rolling parcours, both the peloton and the breakaway shed riders. The chase was led by Lampre - ISD, likely in service of Damiano Cunego. However, up ahead, German Danilo Hondo was riding well.
On the last climb of the day, Hondo had ridden the rest of the break off his wheel. At this point, Daniele Pietropolli, who had helped the peloton catch every other rider, slowed, allowing his teammate to build on his previously shrinking lead.
German sprinter Hondo drops his peers on the final climb of the day.
Colnago thought about moving to the front, but Hondo was hardly a threat to the team's overall ambitions. Seemingly, every team felt this way, and Hondo was able to ride into the finish alone for the win.
Often a lead-out man, Hondo savors his victory.
Another breakaway of similar size and make got away on the second day. This time, Colnago were represented by Filippo Savini.
Another break of mostly secondary riders.
Savini worked well with his fellow escapees. On the penultimate climb of the day, the Katusha led peloton was closing fast. Savini, in a doomed attempt at glory attacked. He went over the top alone, only 1'06 ahead of the main field.
Savini tries to descend quickly ahead of chasing riders.
Savini worked hard, hoping to get to the final climb of the day first. He was barely able to accomplish this, being caught on the early slopes.
However, as soon as Savini was reeled in, Rodríguez burst from the peloton.
Purito blasts past a spent Savini.
When the Catalan launched his attack, only Efimkin was awake. However, the Russian was clearly struggling to stay on Rodríguez's wheel. Sensing trouble, Vinokourov countered, bringing along Di Luca.
Vino attacks everywhere.
Still Pozzovivo waited. Up ahead, the four had formed a group and already had a gap of one minute.
Stefano Pirazzi and Savini worked a bit on the front before they blew. At this point, Pozzovivo had to react.
Pozzovivo missed out on the move, and has to limit his losses.
Pozzovivo initially made good inroads into the leading group. With 1.5km left on the day, he was only 15" behind. However, just as he reached Efimkin's wheel, Rodríguez upped the pace, blowing the group up again.
Purito made everyone hurt today.
No one was able to go with the new pace, and Purito would claim the stage and the race lead.
A commanding win.
After a tough stage, the third stage featured a mountaintop finish. A group of 14 left the group.
A breakaway with no Colnago riders was again be given a lot of freedom.
Again, it featured no GC threats. With 60km left, the gap was only 3'45, very manageable. However, as the final climb approached, the distance was unchanged.
Up in the break, Miguel Rubiano (D'Angelo & Antenucci - Nippo) attacked. While the talented Colombian was a strong bet for the stage win, he also played into the peloton's hands by disrupting the break's momentum.
Rubiano making a bid for victory.
Behind the break, race leader Rodríguez took up the onus of attacking.
Could anyone follow Rodríguez?
Following Rodríguez was Vino, Di Luca, Efimkin, and Pozzovivo. If the five riders formed a group, they were perhaps strong enough to claw back the break's remaining advantage.
Eventually, all five riders came together to form a small chasing group.
But the gap was too much. While Rubiano was brought back by his less than pleased breakaway mates, no one could contain Grega Bole in the final kilometer. Fresh off a win in the Giro della Calabria, Bole took another win.
While the win was out of reach, Rodríguez and Vino were able to gain a little more time over Di Luca, Efimkin, and Pozzovivo. A late dig saw the two gain several bike lengths. Pozzovivo tried to close the gap, but could not. He led Di Luca and Efimkin over the line 18' behind, 1'23 down on Bole.
Bole finished fast in the last kilometer.
After two days of intense action, the fourth stage was calm. Marco Frapporti tried multiple times to escape the peloton. While Frapporti is capable in the hilly terrain, he was well down on the GC, and no threat to Rodríguez's position. Nevertheless, Katusha did not let him get any advantage.
Frustratingly, Frapporti could not escape.
The final 50km of the day were flat. After Katusha effectively neutralized the first portion of the stage, there was little to report on. In the sprint, Rodríguez surprisingly pipped Oscar Gatto (Farnese Vini) at the line fort his second stage. Perhaps Katusha knew what they were doing.
Gatto was surpried by Rodríguez at the line.
By the last stage of the Giro di Sardegna, Rodríguez looked unbeatable. Pozzovivo still had podium hopes, lying 25' behind Di Luca.
A small breakaway of Mirco Lorenzetto (Astana), Daniel Schorn (Team NetApp), and Davide Ricci Bitti (Farnese Vini - Neri Sottoli) formed about halfway through the day. Pirazzi eventually bridged the gap, but was too tired from the effort to stay with them over the final climbs.
The break of three, with Pirazzi already dropped. No one in sight.
There was little chase from the peloton, seemingly content to give the stage to the attacking riders.
On the final climb, Lorenzetto sat on the front of the group. First, Ricci Bitti was dropped. Then, with 5km left, Schorn ran out of energy.
Schorn can only watch Lorenzetto ride away.
Lorenzetto took the final stage, helping Astana secure the team classification.
Lorenzetto basks in the limelight.
As the Italian climbed to the win, Rodríguez wanted to illustrate his dominance. The rampant Spaniard burst forth. This time, Pozzovivo was ready. He countered immediately, surrounded by 3 Astana riders.
Rodríguez; leaving everyone in his dust once again.
However, on the hills, Rodríguez's acceleration was too much for everyone this time, even Vinokourov, who had for the most part, kept up. Rodríguez stamped his authority on the race, finishing 4th, 24' ahead of a group led by Vinokourov, Di Luca, and Enrico Gasparotto.
Pozzovivo, despite being more attentive, suffered on the final climb, finishing the day in 19th, 50' behind Rodríguez. This effort was not good enough to see him improve on his 5th place standing.
Peerless, Purito crosses the line alone.
In Colnago's first race with some top class competition, only Pozzovivo really showed he belonged. While the team is young and still developing, if they want entry into big races such as Tirreno - Adriatico and the Giro d'Italia, they will have to show more.
Plenty of stories to follow now with Pellizotti2 and baia starting with new ones, too. But it's worth following 
