One year has passed and Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi is shaping up for the second year of racing. The 2012 season was successfull which lead to promotion to Pro Tour for Venchi. As you've probably figured out by now, Venchi will no longer be the only name sponsor, Sugoi will join them. Sugoi will also stand for the 2013 kits, taking the job over from SMS Santini. As well as making our kit, Sugoi has decided to invest money into the project, replacing former sponsors Eni and Lavazza who both no longer wanted to continue as a sponsor. Hereby, Team Venchi ProCycling will in 2013 be known as Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi.
A press conference was held in Milano yesterday, where manager 'Sykkel_Freak' told about his 2013 plans: - Going for the hilly classics and hilly stage races with Di Maggio in the Continental Tour was the factor that made us promote. We aknowledge that we might not be strong enough to deliver the same performances in the Pro Tour as in the Continental Tour, so we will do all we can to get a new, strong, Italian hilly rider. Ginanni, Ponzi and Ulissi is potential candidates. Whether their managers is interested in releasing them is another question. We will also work on our sprints, and try to reinforce that bit with some new riders. Free Agent Lo Cicero is the first name on my list. Other than this, talents will be a priority. There are a lot of upcoming superstars both from Italy and the countries around which will have the oppurtunity to get a chance at our team.
NEW JERSEY: The jersey Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi will be wearing in the 2013 season.
As previously mentioned, Sugoi will make our kits for the 2013 season. Their designers is currently working on a design which will please team manager 'Sykkel_Freak', which until know has proven difficult. Our helmets will as last year be made and delivered by Giro. Wilier will make the bikes, after the contract with Pinarello ended and Fiat will still make the team cars which was already seen at the back of the peleton this season. We are very much looking forward to see the whole black, red and white kit, and we hope that we will be able to within a couple of weeks.
Edited by Sykkel_Freak on 27-02-2014 18:56
If Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi manages to sign Cunego, he would most likely lead the team in the two other races Venchi has marked as goals. The first one is the last monument of the season, Giro di Lombardia, which in similarity to Tour de France, was won by Cunego last year. The other race is another Italian one, Tirreno - Adriatico in february. The stage race contains no time trials, which favor Cunego, but there aren't any mountain stages either, which do not favor Cunego. However, supported by Di Maggio, Sagan and the rest of their hilly team, Cunego might be able to win it. Both races is marked as win goals.
TOUR DE FRANCE WINNER: Damiano Cunego
The last two goals is not out of reach even without a rider like Cunego, but depends more on a stable team through the season. The manager of Venchi have earlier talked about how he wants to strengthen the sprint team, and when setting 15 stage wins in the 2013 season as a goal, it seems like that's currently not changed. The last goal is perhaps the 'easiest', avoid relegation. No team is secure though, and newly promoted teams is never secure at all, so this also will be very hard. Without a cobbled race as a goal, it yet again seems like the area has no focus, so the team will have to count on their hilly riders, their stage racers and the sprinters to have another season in the Pro Tour.
Edited by Sykkel_Freak on 21-11-2013 17:09
You have very ambitious goals. You probably need Cunego to acchieve.
On the other hand your team standing goal is very low in case you reach the others.
Already in February, Team Venchi - Sugoi took their first win in the Pro Tour circus. Peter Sagan outsprinted his breakaway companion Rabottini, and won the 2nd stage of this years Tirreno - Adriatico. After the Sagan win, there was a lack of victories and good results in general in the Venchi camp. After a disappointing period were among others the Giro d'Italia and the Ardennes passed without a big result, the 2nd win finally came in May. Namibian Dan Craven, who signed for Team Venchi - Sugoi before the season, edged out the opponents and won the 15th stage of Vuelta à España.
With the 15th stage of the Vuelta à España being built for breakaways, many different riders tried to get away. It was however only six who eventually made it. Man of the day, Dan Craven was there, as well as Philip Deignan, Jocelin Maillet, Jose Antonio Redondo, Alex Dowsett and Damiano Caruso. After fighting for the last king of the mountains prize of the day, Craven and Maillet succeeds in getting away from the others and is joined by Damiano Caruso in the summit towards the finish. Sprinting from the front, Dan Craven is barely able to hold Maillet behind him while Caruso finished 3rd, nearly four minutes in front of the peleton.
IN THE LEAD: Dan Craven realizes he will cross the line in the front position
"I am happy to finally see the team win again after a couple of tough months. Craven impressed me the first week of this race and it is nice to finally see him cross the line first, bringing him up to a solid 5th in the points classification!", Venchi-manager 'Sykkel_Freak' told the press after the stage before being questioned about team captain Fabio Duarte. "Duarte is climbing quite well. 17th in the overall is good, looking at his horrible start in the Vuelta this year. I hope he can advance a bit more and end up in the top 15. That would be a great result for us."
Edited by Sykkel_Freak on 21-11-2013 17:08
Venchi struggles at the bottom of the Pro Tour ranking, but that does not stop them from winning stages. Tour de France has just started racing, and manager 'Sykkel_Freak' has picked a team he thinks is capable of taking one or more stage wins. "While we do have Duarte as an outsider for a place inside the top 10 in the GC, our main goal is to win a stage. Sagan has been able to do it more than one time from breakaways this season. He is a good climber and last but not least a great sprinter in smaller groups. In general, breakaways are our best shot if we are going to win a stage. Brambilla, Oss and Vanmarcke are all free to basically do whatever they want."
STAGE WIN: Di Maggio with his arms in the air after an impressive stage win.
Manager 'Sykkel_Freak' does not however think Di Maggios win can be recreated in the Tour. "Yes, Cesare's win was motivating for the whole team, but one have to consider that first of all, the field is much stronger here in France. Second, we do not have a Di Maggio on the startlist. Fabio Duarte for example still have to take some big steps in order to get to a level where he can win the biggest races. However, he is one of the guys who can win from a breakaway. Meanwhile, our boys will try to bring Van Avermaet in a position were he can fight for a sprint win. That is the task of Marinangeli, Corioni and Oss the first week of this race."
Edited by Sykkel_Freak on 21-11-2013 17:08
During the last transfer season, Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi signed no less than three riders from Belgium. Greg van Avermaet, Sean de Bie and Gert Dockx all turned to Italy to continue their career as professional bike riders. In addition, manager 'Sykkel_Freak' took Sep Vanmarcke on board as a loanie from PFG - Armavia and signed Robin Stenuit on a stagiare contract. Apparently, the many Belgian signings to the team attracted interest from several Belgian companies. 'Sykkel_Freak' has now confirmed that an agreement have been signed with one of them during the ongoing Tour de France. The company, which is yet to be revealed, will step in as a co-sponsor replacing Sugoi which is reported to have been unhappy with the teams performances in their Pro Tour debut-year.
The manager of the Italian team is optimistic about the new Belgian focus in the team. "I am very happy that this deal finally got through. This deal allows us to headhunt more riders from the Benelux area. The Belgian part of our roster has been a nice addition to the team this year and I am very much looking forward to expanding it. There are several great riders specializing on classics up there, which is what we would like to focus on.", the Norwegian says. These statements could mean that the manager is looking to strengthen his team on the cobblestone sections. Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi has had little success in these classics, with a 6th place from Vanmarcke in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad as the highlight.
Edited by Sykkel_Freak on 21-11-2013 17:07
Nice update and interesting twist in focus, hopefully you will be able to fulfil at the end of the year, during transfers.
Btw. Metinvest could be relly interested in some italians that would need to make place for new belgian blood.
Those like Corioni or DiMaggio looks to be great riders to have. Sagan is just a dream i suppose.
Avin Wargunnson wrote:
Nice update and interesting twist in focus, hopefully you will be able to fulfil at the end of the year, during transfers.
Btw. Metinvest could be relly interested in some italians that would need to make place for new belgian blood.
Those like Corioni or DiMaggio looks to be great riders to have. Sagan is just a dream i suppose.
Thanks! I already got some Belgian names on my list, and I hope to sign 3 or 4 of them during the transfers. Italy will still be the main focus, though. But as I need to cut down on the wages for PCT, it is a good chance I need to let go of one or more of my best and most paid riders.
jph27 wrote:
Anuar Aziz has been superb for us in C2 races. With him and all the other talents you have a bright future
Nice to hear that you are happy with him! I do like how the future look for this team, indeed. We have som great talents in Anuar Aziz and De Bie, and also a good sprint team under development. With Brambilla, Sagan and Craven developing as well, we look a lot stronger on the paper for next season.
CountArach wrote:
Get off my turf!
I don't think you should be worried yet, though. The cobbles team needs to be built from scratch, and I doubt I'll target any major rider for the coming season.
After a longer period without much success, Cesare Di Maggio was finally able to stretch his arms above his head again in the stage race Tour of Northern Europe and take his first stage wins since Criterium du Dauphine Libere in June. The stage race went through several countries in Europe, and offered opportunities for nearly all rider types along the way. The riders faced both flat stages, cobbles, hills and a lot of kilometers on the time trial bike. With strong punchers like Stefan Schumacher, Philippe Gilbert and Dimitri Claeys on the grid, it came to be a tough fight not only for the GC and the other jerseys, but also for the win on the two hilly stages.
The first hill stage was already on stage two, with a 205 kilometer long stage from Borås to Huskvarna in Sweden. The day started out good for Venchi, when Franscesco Reda was able to get in the early breakaway. A high pace in the peleton during the finishing laps of the race led to the breakaway eventually being swallowed, though, and the stage win came to be battled out between the favorites. However, the high pace made some of the big favorites in the peleton suffer as well. Only eleven riders came together towards the sprint. A well placed Di Maggio managed to edge out his opponents and take the stage win ahead of Van Garderen and Hoogerland. The win marked the 5th stage win of the season for the team.
ONE OUT OF TWO: Di Maggio outsprints the opposition to take his first Tour of Northern Europe stage win.
Four days later it was time for the second and last hilly stage. An aggressive Di Maggio said goodbye to the peleton already 40 kilometers before the finish line. Alongside Roux, Hoogerland, Wyss and Nuyens of Puma - SAP he attacked clear of the bunch. A few kilometers later, Di Maggio found himself alone in the battle for the stage win. A massive solo effort ended in the puncher crossing the line 25 seconds ahead of Schumacher and Van Garderen to take his 3rd stage win of the season. "Wow, what a massive race this has been for Di Maggio! I was surprised to see him do his move so early, but it worked out perfectly in the end.", said the manager of Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi, 'Sykkel_Freak', after the race.
A long season has come to an end, and so has Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi's Pro Tour adventure. After a difficult season where one goal after the other failed, Venchi ended the season in 20th position, more than 5000 points behind division champions, Wikipedia. Eager to put the old behind them, Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi will have a twist in focus from the new season and onwards, focusing more on Belgian riders in addition to the Italian ones. Supporting them, will the Belgian company Ferranti do, meaning Venchi will be named 'Venchi - Ferranti' in the new season. With the new twist in focus, it will obviously be some changes in the team before Venchi makes it comeback in the Pro Continental Tour.
"First and foremost, I will be aiming to reduce the amount of riders in the team.", manager 'Sykkel_Freak' reveals. "This season we had 28 riders riding for us. This is a number we can reduce quite a lot. We will be aiming at a roster with no more than 20 riders when the season starts, hoping to get the most out of every rider. In order to reach that number, several riders will not be offered a new contract in the renewals. Michele Viola and Robin Stenuit both had stagiare contracts with the team this season, and will not be offered new deals. Italians Benedetto Monterastelli, Sergio Marinangeli, Francesco Reda, Davide Viganò and Nevio Tirloni will also be looking to find a new team."
NEW KIT: 'Venchi - Ferranti' riders is taking on a climb out training in their 2014 kit.
"Furtermore, sprinter Claudio Corioni and stage racer Fabio Duarte will possibly be sold in the transfer season.", 'Sykkel_Freak' continues. "In regards to our youngsters, Sean De Bie, Mohamed Shawal Anuar Aziz and Sonny Colbrelli will possibly be looking at a season in the Pro Tour for further development. There will of course be some new names to the team as well. We are looking for one or two decent TT'ers as well a decent cobbles specialist. More importantly however, is a sprint captain who can deliver the sprint wins we lacked in the Pro Tour. Mark Cavendish and Heinrich Haussler are both interesting riders, but at the top of our shortlist is Jacopo Guarnieri." If the newly relegated team can find the money, is a different question, though.
The right rider type, but possibly a bit too old. The plan is to build up a better cobbles team over a couple of seasons, so I would probably prefer a younger rider.
Sources today are reporting that Sean De Bie, the young Begian super talent, is keen for a move away from his current Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi on a more permanent basis.
The young rider is reported to have said the following to a journalist: "I really feel like my development as a rider would be best served by a permanent move to a team who may be more likely to stay in the top flight of cycling, rather than risking my career by staying in the PCT forever."
There is speculation that he could be on his way to Team BPost - Vlaanderen, who are apparently preparing a rather large bid in order to secure the talents of the youngster. It is also understood that if Sean De Bie is not available for a permanent transfer, they are willing to loan him in for the 2014 season "just to show him how we do things".
