After 3 long and beautiful years, Bacardi and Riccardo have parted ways. After we unfortunately did not manage to stay up in the PT, we had to make a very hard decision. Riccardo wanted to stay at the team, but we felt that he deserved better, that he deserved to have his last 2 years of glory at the top. The final decision came when the Giro d'Italia 2014 route was announced. We wanted him to shine and win the Giro once again, but we could not guarantee our participation. So we decided to let him go, so he can have a shot at victory, even if it's in another jersey.
Riccardo's previous team, White Bear - Wild Horse, disbanded at the end of the 2010 season, and he found a new home at Bacardi.
The whole season Ricco was consistency itself, as he finished top 5 in all but one race. There were a lot of highlights;
On the final stage of the Giro del Trentino, Ricco was 55 seconds heind Serpa in the GC. He had already lost to Serpa and Taaramae before in the mountains, so it would be a hard task to actually beat them. But on the first slopes of the final climb of the final stage, Ricco unleashed his inner demons. He destroyed the opposition: he took the stage, the GC, the points & the mountain jersey all in the same stage!
Showing the power Il Cobra has
Another highlight was his victory in the Tre Valli Varesine. It was our win goal, and although Ricco won, it was a hard-fought battle with young upcoming puncheur, Simone Ponzi. In the end, Ricco managed to edge out Ponzi on the line after the steep finishing climb in Varese.
A battle of Italians
After that, he won 3 more one-day classics: Urkiola Igoera, Milano - Torino and finally the Giro dell'Emilia. In the end, Ricco's consistency together with the performances of our other leaders was the reason we ended up promoting to Pro Tour in our first season in existence.
Back in the Pro Tour, Riccardo started of his season with a top 10 result in all three Ardenne classics showing he was ready for his ultimate goal: winning the Giro d'Italia!
We started the Giro pretty good, limiting our losses in the opening TTT. In stage 3, a flat stage, Ricco showed the competition he was meaning serious business. Together with Frank Schleck they put the other favorites on 55 seconds, Ricco moving up to 3th in the GC at that point.
On stage 4, another flat stage, he sprinted to second place behind ex-teammate Matt Goss. With the bonification seconds, Ricco took the Maglia Rosa!
Stage 6 marked Ricco's first stage win that year. Where he beat Frank Schleck in an uphill sprint.
Ricco's first stage win in the 2012 Giro
In the first mountain stage of the race, Ricco got beaten out in a sprint by pure climber Emanuele Sella. The next mountain stage, it would be the other way around, as Ricco won his second stage. At this point, Ricco was already 2 minutes ahead of everyone in the GC.
On stage 14, 15 and 16, Sella began his impressive comeback. In just these 3 stages, he made up 2'40" on Ricco, something which we deemed impossible after stage 9.
Stage 17 showed that Ricco wasn't done yet, as he won the sprint from a medium group consisting of mostly favorites. At this point, he was 1'04" ahead of Sella, with 2 very had mountain stages left. He survived the first one, only losing in the sprint at the end to Sella, giving up 8 seconds.
Stage 20, the final mountain stage, almost marked Ricco's downfall. After 20 stages, he cracked on the final climb, and had to let Sella go. He lost another 41 seconds. At the eve of the final time-trial he only had a 13 second advantage left, and with Ricco on the edge of breaking, and Sella looking very strong, everything could happen.
It's a battle of seconds, but in the end Ricco takes the upper hand, as he sprints to the line, covering the last hundred metres of the 2012 Giro d'Italia in a quick burst. He ends up winning a murderous with 18 seconds ahead of Sella. In the end, it was Ricco consistency on every terrain that gave him the win over Sella, who was the better climber.
Ricco's most beautiful win of his carreer
After the Giro, he concluded his season with 4 more top 10 finished. In 2012, he finished every race he started in the top 10, which eventually, together with his Giro win, gave him a top 2 finish in the PT rankings!
Unfortunately, his Giro d'Italia win would be his last big win while riding for Bacardi. He had a consistent 2013 season, finishing top 10 in both the Giro and the Vuelta, but it wasn't what either of us were expecting. The upcoming youngsters together with the terrain not being ideal for him, ended up making 2013 a year to forget for Ricco. Add on top of that, that our whole team performed sup-par, we ended up demoting back to PCT.
And that is where this story started, Riccardo and Bacardi parting ways. He was willing to stay and get us back up, but we wanted to see him shine at the highest level like Il Cobra of 2012. The opportunity is most certainly there, with the Giro being very hard without a lot of TT'ing. We will most certainly be his n°1 fan!
Ricco's final race for Bacardi; Giro di Lombardia
| Race | Year |
| Giro del Trentino, Stage 4 | 2011 |
| Giro del Trentino, GC | 2011 |
| Tre Valli Varesine | 2011 |
| Urkiola Igoera | 2011 |
| Milano - Torino | 2011 |
| Giro dell'Emilia | 2011 |
| Giro d'Italia, Stage 6 | 2012 |
| Giro d'Italia, Stage 9 | 2012 |
| Giro d'Italia, Stage 17 | 2012 |
| Giro d'Italia, GC | 2012 |
| Vuelta a Colombia, Stage 6 | 2012 |
| Vuelta a Colombia, Stage 10 | 2012 |
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