Welcome to UniCredit's Media Thread for the 2012 season. In this first post you'll find information about the team and the thread will be updated with news and race results throughout the season.
Team Sponsors:
UniCredit
Pinarello Sportful
to be updated...
Team Squad:
Peter Riis Andersen Lorenzo Bernucci William Bonnet Fabio Borghesi Alejandro Borrajo Davide Bragazzi Matthias Brändle Francesco Gavazzi Jordi Grau Mirko Lorenzetto Danilo Napolitano Sergio Ortega Salvatore Puccio Nairo Quintana Alessio Signego Tadej Valjavec Tosh Van der Sande Boy Van Poppel Brian Vandborg Giovanni Visconti Pieter Weening
to be updated...
Team Goals:
Win, Rogaland GP Stage win, Tour de Langkawi Points jersey, Tour de Langkawi Top 10, Post Danmark Rundt Top 10, Team Standings
Target Races:
GP Herning 5 Jours de Dunkerque Bayern Rundfahrt Barcelona Classic Paris-Tours
Race Calendar:
to be updated...Edited by Thrige on 07-07-2011 14:30
Last season the team really only scored points in the sprint. The lack of a leader whenever the race became even just a little hard was huge, and as a result of that, the team ended 24th in the rankings.
Therefore, the first priority for the team when entering the transfer season was to find a decent leader for the hilly classics to build the team around. After negotiations with both Patrick Sinkewitz and Franco Pellizotti, UniCredit ended up signing a deal with the Dutch puncheur, Pieter Weening from Pearl Adidas. He’s going to lead the team in the upcoming season and he’s probably going to be the most important rider.
A chain is no stronger than its weakest link, so we’ve looked around for some decent helpers for Weening. In the squad we already have guys like Sergio Ortega and Tadej Valjavec, but the additions of young climber, Nairo Quintana (loan) and Italian all-rounder, Giovanni Visconti, won’t hurt for sure!
UniCredit’s main force last season was the sprints, but we haven’t missed the opportunity to improve this part either. In 2011, Mirko Lorenzetto wasn’t far away from signing a contract with UniCredit. This year, he made it all the way through, along with free agent, Alessio Signego, and Belgian youngster, Tosh Van der Sande (loan) and we’re looking strong in the sprints in 2012 as well.
In addition, Matthias Brändle, the Austrian TT’er has returned to UniCredit once again on a 1-year loan, while Salvatore Puccio has arrived on a loan from Pirelli – Alfa Romeo.
Edited by Thrige on 29-06-2011 11:04
