Alessio–Bianchi was an Italian professional cycling team which existed from 1998 to 2004. It was created in 1998 as Ballan. In 1999 Italian wheels manufacturer Alessio came in as co-sponsor, and in 2000 as main sponsor. The team was dissolved by the end of the 2004 season.
History
The team began in 1998 as Ballan.[1] Flavio Miozzo, the team director said he selected the riders for the team very carefully filling a roster of only fourteen riders and hoping to race in some of the largest races in the world.[2]
2004
The final year of the team started with a team presentation in Italy with Bianchi coming across from the now defunct Team Coast to sponsor the team.[3] In early February news surfaced of the team being unable to pay some of their Scandinavian riders.[4] On 13 February 2004 Memory Corp came in as a new sponsor to cover the wages of the riders who missed theirs.[5] The team's first win came in Stage 3 of Giro della Provincia di Lucca by Alessandro Bertolini which led to Bertolini taking the leaders jersey by 1:51. Bertolini was one of eighteen who finished inside the time limit of the stage after the peloton allowed the break to get an advantage of over thirty minutes.[6] Bertolini held onto the jersey to take the overall finishing 9 seconds down on the stage 4 winner Florent Brard.[7] One of the Team's goals was the 2004 Tour de France with Pietro Caucchioli being their man in contention for the overall.[8] The team had two riders finish in the top 10 of Stage 3.[9]
