(This story was made using this DB, with some maillots updated, dopheads added as free agents, and some minor alterations to stats - I used PCM06 on hard setting)
For the 2009 season, Mapei have taken Amica Chips - Knauf's Continental Tour license. Along with the region of Lombardy in which they are based, they aimed for the ProTour for 2010. Here is their 2009 jersey.
After signing up Rujano, Mazzoleni, Ricco and Sella from free agents in the off-season, this is what the team looked like as they started the season. (Increased stats due to training camp for the Giro)
Ricco is the joint-leader of the team, focusing on stage races and hilly one-day races.
Mazzoleni is the other joint-leader, also focusing on stage races and hilly one-day races.
Sella has free reign to attack for the mountains classifications, but also helps out the two leaders.
Rujano has a similar role to Sella, but is more of a domestique.
Bertagnolli will target the hilly one day races, also helping out Mazz & Ricco.
Grega Bole is the great young hope of the team. He is free to attack on all but the toughest stages.
Cadamuro is the best sprinter of the team, which isn't saying much. However, he will go for points classifications in any stage races he enters.
After dominating some small stage races such as the Vuelta a Murcia and the Mallorca Challenge as well as winning one day races including the GP Miguel Indurain and the Tour du Haut Var, Mapei headed to Tirreno-Adriatico, where they won 5 stages and the general classification with Ricco. The team was accused of doping, but nothing incriminating was found.
After establishing a big lead in the Continental Tour, the team got a wild-card to the Giro.
Mapei sent the strongest team possible to the Giro, after going to two week long training camps in preparation. The team was as follows:
Riccardo Ricco
Eddy Mazzoleni
Emanuele Sella
Jose Rujano
Igor Astarloa
Leonardo Bertagnolli
Matteo Carrara
Grega Bole
Simone Cadamuro
After a quiet few days at the start of the Giro, including the abandoning of Astarloa after a fall, Mazzoleni broke away on the uphill finish of stage 5
This was followed the next day by a breakaway win by Grega Bole. He was in pink, leading by over 3 minutes, and led the young riders classfication after this.
On stage 7, Mazzoleni won again, taking the pink jersey on the first tough mountain stage.
Stage 8 saw Mapei shock the peloton when Grega Bole won in a breakaway again! He was caught on the line, but won by a few metres.
Stage 14's tough uphill finish saw Mazzoleni more than a minute up on Cunego with 1km to go. However, he hit the wall and only got 9 seconds on his rival in the end.
2 days later, at the Plan de Corones mountain time trial, suspicions were raised when Mapei took 6 of the first 7 places - the top 3 riders had all doped before. Sella claimed the victory this time. Mazzoleni got back to within a minute of Cunego, but ended up losing 3 more in the stage that followed.
Bertagnolli broke away in order to add to his mountain points, and ended up winning the stage - Mapei's 7th!
Matteo Carrara then attacked on the Passo de Gavia and the Mortirolo to claim Mapei's 8th stage win.
The final standings follow..
After this incredible performance from the new team, eyebrows were raised - especially when they didn't show up for any races for the rest of June until the national championships.
Here are Mapei's victories in the Tirreno-Adriatico & the Giro.
The team resurfaced just before the Tour with the shock news that Alexandre Vinokourov had joined mid-season in order to participate in cycling's biggest race. Mapei were criticised by most of the cycling community, and some called for their expulsion from the race. No positive tests had come from the team's riders yet though, so they were allowed to continue.
The new look Mapei was unveiled, with Vino as the third co-leader.
Shortly after, Mapei released details of their Tour team - the hugely out-of-shape Vino would be joint-leading the team with Sella and Mazzoleni. The aim of the team is to pick up a stage victory or two and win the polka-dot mountains jersey.
Astarloa attacked with Gilbert and Bonnet. Astarloa withdrew from his second GT of the year later in this stage after he broke his shoulder in a crash.
Going up the day's main climb, it became clear that Vino was in terrible form/fitness. The team that was protecting him fell off the back of the peloton. Here they are desperately trying to get back.
Gesink of Rabobank won the stage to begin his stay in the yellow jersey.
Mazzoleni attacked over the last hill of the stage to catch Rubiera and take second place in the GC.
On a quiet day, Vino rides with former team-mate Kloden.
It looks like Forster has edged it, but the timesheets say that Hinault just got there ahead of him to be the first Frenchman to win a stage on the Tour in 2009.
Here are the stage and overall results after stage three.
