We had the long-awaited Italian WorldTour team until 2016. It was called Lampre-Merida, it had 13 Italian riders and 14 foreignersThe sports group was in the hands of Giuseppe Saronni, but soon after he would pass to Gianetti becoming UAE Team Emirates.
25 years of Lampre
Lampre was there in cycling She joined in 1999 and when she left it was like losing someone in the family., accustomed to the blue and fuchsia of the shirts and to the idea that that team simply existed, after the transfer of Liquigas into American hands. Mario Galbusera, owner of the group together with his sons Sergio and Emanuele, was often at the races with a white moustache and charisma (the three are together in the opening photo). So when at the starting meeting of the Lombardia in Bergamo, we recognized Emanuele Galbusera in front of the Trek-Segafredo bus, we had hope for a rekindled flame, but it didn't last long. And in any case we intended to contact him to understand what an insurmountable obstacle there is between big Italian companies and cycling.
What was he doing in Bergamo next to the Trek-Segafredo bus?
The passion remains (smiles, ed.).
So talking about a Lampre-Segafredo is a hoax?
I confirm, a fake news!
Well, it was worth trying. What happened? cycling for Lampre?
A huge showcase, a nice return of imageWe do not produce a finished product, we are metal coating specialists, so being in cycling was the way to promote the brand.
Are we talking about a stellar investment?
We have never implemented a policy of this kind, we wanted to remain constant, to last a long time, as it turned out. In those years, consistency was the fundamental requirement for an environment that later changed the way it promotes its sponsors, which increasingly offer products and services.
Do you think cycling is still a useful promotional vehicle?
In the sports field, we would still consider it. But we have to ask ourselves whether putting your name on a shirt is still useful. The team tool certainly gives you visibility every day, 365 days a year. However, I wonder if it's still appropriate for a company like Lampre. the right vehicle to make your brand known, using an 80s-style marketing toolBut it must be said that it works abroad…
Then?
So maybe it is a fact about how cycling is experienced in ItalyBasic activity is at a bare minimum. Kids today take up a thousand sports, but almost never want to get a bike. My five children, despite my passion, have never considered it. I think there is a general theme that goes beyond the WorldTour team.
Is there a movement missing that would empower or encourage the investor?
This is certainly a theme, The youth sector is asphyxiated and it is not the task of the top teams to promote the grassroots. I'll give you the example of the Lampre Trophy in Bernareggio. We had years where we sent teams back and in the end... we closed it because the teams couldn't find each other anymore.
For a while, it was said that the deterrent for companies was getting involved in some doping story.
We have been in cycling for 25 years, we have lived through all the ages and at that stage there was some fear of this kind. I remember the discussions with potential sponsors well, but that era is now consigned to history, so we need to find a way to attract serious resources.
Ivan Basso, who has built himself up as a manager, says that for years he has been asking for money without offering a well-documented return…
It's possible that the proposal was wrong. The historic battle is to capitalize and make sports clubs responsible, so that they have more certainty and do not depend only on sponsors. But it is also true that Teams and sponsorships were once based on passionWhen we dropped out, those who continued did so with other types of sponsors.
How do we start again?
You demonstrate and convince if you show that there is a basis.
But why do you think Mapei left cycling at a certain point and went into football? Could it be that's all that's seen in Italy?
I don't know exactly why Squinzi made these choices, but I imagine that as a company it had this opportunity and took it.And let's not forget that Giorgio was a huge football fan. Just think, Lampre worked the other way around...
That?
As a former footballer, Dad was buying the Lecco team, but it didn't go well. That same evening, Colnago called him and in revenge, he put his tie back on and went to meet himHowever, it is true that cycling lacks the necessary support. The Cycling League, as it once was, involved important sponsors, having the necessary media and political support..
Media coverage has also dropped significantly. Gazzetta dello Sport is struggling to get cycling on its front page...
The young man watches football and not the Giro di Lombardia and I too wonder why, after such a beautiful season, there is no space. And yet there are still fans on the streets. Whether it's a formula problem, that is, that a match that lasts many hours and is broadcast live in its entirety works less well than a match that finishes in 90 minutes?
Do they often suggest you come back?
Several times, even recently. The passion is always there, but we left a different WorldTour, where it is not easy to fit in.And then the void beneath isn't a good thing. Before, below the top division, there was a circuit less tied to globalization, and that's another issue. Fortunes are spent on trips around the world that perhaps the sponsor is not interested inCertainly, some Italian sponsors wouldn't be interested. There's a huge disconnect, and for a name like ours, accustomed to being at the top, the idea of starting from the bottom is not too appealing.
The idea is to start from the bottom to get promoted to the WorldTour…
An idea theorized in Switzerland 15 years ago, which however has too many critical issues. Points must be earned in the same championship, with the same rules for everyone. Don't you think that the way it is now it's a bit of a mess?
