Footon-Servetto: a young team for a re-start

Such a turnover has never been seen before in modern cycling: 20 out of the 24 members of the 2010 Footon-Servetto team didn’t belong to the 2009 Fuji-Servetto. Team manager Mauro Gianetti introduces his new squad as “the youngest ever in six seasons of the UCI Pro Tour up to date”. The average age of the roster is low indeed: 24.4, but the eight riders lined up for the Presidential Tour of Turkey from April 11 to 18 make an even lower score: 23.5. “To scout young riders and take them to the highest level of professional cycling has always been my passion”, explained directeur sportif Josean Fernandez Matxin who started his coaching career with triple world champion and now triple Milan-San Remo winner Oscar Freire. Matxin’s latest successful protégé David De La Fuente has rejoined Alberto Contador at Astana. “We re-start with young riders in which we believe a lot”, he added. “There is a change of generation in cycling nowadays. I like our new riders a lot.”

A Pro Tour team, Footon-Servetto from Spain remains in a phase of reconstruction after the departure of main sponsor Saunier Duval because of the positive dope test of Riccardo Ricco at the 2008 Tour de France. They yet have to seduce some race organisers but their participation to the 2010 Tour de France is guaranteed. “The Tour of Turkey starts the day after the Tour of the Basque country finishes”, Matxin noted. “Otherwise we would have sent an even stronger team to Istanbul but we’ll still line up with a very competitive squad and the ambition of winning. There aren’t big names of cycling in our group but real talents who will show off.”

Footon-Servetto will have three sprinters in Turkey with Vidal Celis who recently came 2nd in stages of Le Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia, José Alberto Benitez who’s got a lot of experience in the race he concluded in second position overall in 2008 behind his compatriot David Garcia Dapena, and the Italian fastman Michele Merlo who won the last stage of the Tour of Britain in London last year. Two Spanish champions will also travel to Istanbul: the one of the U23 category Pedro Merino who is a pure climber and the amateur one David Gutierrez who is the younger brother of Caisse d’Epargne’s captain Ivan Gutierrez. “This will be out third participation to the Tour of Turkey”, Matxin concluded. “The first time in 2008, we were curious, we wanted to have a new experience, then we realized how much the event improves each year. As a mark of respect for the great job done by the organizers, we feel obliged to do well. The extraordinary TV coverage is also important for us as we sell the brands of our sponsors.”

Footon-Servetto for the Tour of Turkey: José Alberto Benitez, Vidal Celis, Fabio Felline, Noè Gianetti, David Gutierrez, Pedro Merino, Michele Merlo, Johnnie Walker.

2010-04-18

Fifth stage win for Greipel, first stage race overall win for Visconti

Giovanni Visconti will bring back the first “Turquoise maillot” to Italy as the colour of the leader’s jersey has changed from yellow to the mythical colour of Turkish birthstone this year. This is the first stage race overall win for the 27 year old but the 46th Presidential Tour of Turkey will also be remembered for the five stage wins of the great German sprinter Andre Greipel from the world’s best team HTC-Columbia who scored again in the town of Alanya at the end of the eight days “Tur”.

Other Articles

2010-04-17 – Viviani takes first pro win in hectic finale
2010-04-16 – Greipel scores again, Visconti congratulates Turkey
2010-04-15 – One more stage for Andre Greipel, Visconti keeps the lead comfortably
2010-04-14 – Visconti wins the battle with Cofidis and takes the command
2010-04-13 – Visconti wins stage 3, Taaramäe moves into the lead
2010-04-12 – Greipel remains unbeaten after stage 2
2010-04-11 – Greipel grabs first career’s prologue
2010-04-09 – Eurosport TV Schedule
2010-04-08 – Amaël Moinard Heads To Turkey For Winning
2010-04-06 – World’s Best Lead Out Man Back on Track For Turkish Debut
2010-04-02 – Lampre Sends Young Guns To Forget Last Year’s Bad Luck
2010-03-31 – Colnago-CSF Introduces Sprinting Prodigy
2010-03-30 – CCC-Polsat Set Tour of Turkey as Their First Real Target
2010-03-29 – Liquigas Sends Young Guns in Turkey
2010-03-25 – The Tour is a Tool for the Promotion of Turkey
2010-03-24 – ISD-Neri with Visconti and Cipollini as a guest star!
2010-03-23 – For Skil-Shimano, the Tour of Turkey is a must have
2010-03-22 – Footon-Servetto: a young team for a re-start
2010-03-20 – Tour of Turkey, a first for Cofidis
2010-03-18 – Andre Greipel Discovers Tour Of Turkey
2010-03-15 – Presidential Tour of Turkey Becomes Bigger

2010-04-15

Team soul

We are hosting important names, managers, hundreds of employees of cycling world in the organization of the 46th Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey which we gave start with the prologue stage in İstanbul on April 11. While we are witnessing the struggle of popular atheletes of the world from one stage to another everyday, we are beginning to the day with security forces, employees of highways, race course supplies teams who prepares the roads that the convoy will pass and advance groups that are welcoming them by preparing racing areas at finish zones.

2010-04-06

Feyzi Acikalin

TUR is Not Only A Cycling Race

One of the primary task of the state is to ensure its citizens the right of doing sports and competition. Simply thinking, a bicycle race enters into this context. But, if you organize the mother of the races, it is different…